Personal Battles
by Hannah554
Summary: AU, Second part of the Magical Lantis series. As the Guild competition approaches some of the students must fight much more personal battles that could tear the group apart. John/Elizabeth, Jack/Sam, Ronon/Teyla, Carson/Laura
1. Chapter 1

**Authors Note –The second part of Magical Lantis is finally here, sorry it took so long; I know a few people have been waiting for this. I hope it was worth the wait and thanks to everyone who stuck with me. **

* * *

Personal Battles

Chapter 1

John Sheppard left his bags in his room deciding it would be best to unpack later, he'd spent the last couple of days travelling and some rest was definitely in order. His room at Pegasus was exactly as he'd left it, not that he'd expected someone to come in and start moving the furniture around while he'd been gone. The large bed still dominated the room, the closet was built into the wall so obviously that had gone nowhere. The desk in the corner had obviously been cleaned while he was gone and kept clean and a quick glance in the bathroom said that someone had been in there cleaning that too, it looked like it had the day he'd first arrived.

He headed for the cafeteria, it was the middle if the day so that was where he'd most likely find Elizabeth and Teyla, along with anyone else who had returned after the Christmas break. He spotted them quickly enough, sitting at their usual table not far from where the food was being served. Teyla was chatting with Kate and Marcus whilst Elizabeth seemed to be having a completely separate conversation with Laura. Her hand was resting over a familiar book sitting on the table in front of her, the present he'd given to her for Christmas.

"Hey guys," he greeted as he got to the table and received several smiles and a hug from Teyla in response. He sat down next to Elizabeth who smiled as Laura abandoned their conversation in favour of helping Teyla and Kate gang up on Marcus; apparently they wanted to go shopping.

"Thank you for my present," Elizabeth said quietly "How did you get it?"

"Now that would be telling," John replied in amusement, glancing at the special edition copy of the book still resting beneath Elizabeth's hand. There were only ten copies of the special edition version in existence, he remembered one of the teachers from his high school mentioning it, the true story of a man whose name escaped John, he'd battled corrupt politicians and an outraged public in order to change the laws regarding the treatment of certain magical beings, animals with magic properties that had previously been exploited for money. He'd remembered it during one of their Ethics lessons and had immediately thought of Elizabeth, it had taken him a few weeks and a large sum of money but he'd found one of the Special Edition copies and managed to get it in time for Christmas.

"It's probably my favourite gift so thank you," she told him with a smile and he nodded.

"And thank you for my present," he replied, holding up his wrist to show her the watch she had got him. He was not a person who liked to wear watches, at least not the ones he owned, they weren't something he thought to buy himself and the ones that were bought for him always annoyed him. They were always too tight or too loose, too chunky, too thin, to flashy or too something else. The one Elizabeth had bought him was perfect though, silver links attached together intricately and rather than the overly diamond encrusted faces he usually got, the face was simple, a silver rim with a white back grounds and plain black hands whose only function was to tell him the time, not sparkle or blind people when they reflected the light. There was one diamond in the whole thing, in the centre of the face where the hands joined together and from the look of it, it had been an expensive one.

"Now you can stop being late all the time," Elizabeth stated, smile still in place and John happily returned it as he lowered his hand.

"Did you manage to keep Teyla's hands off the presents until Christmas day?" John questioned and Elizabeth laughed.

"Only just, she's pretty sneaky when she's that determined to get something," she told him "The amount of times I caught her crawling across the floor to try and get to them unnoticed was ridiculous."

John laughed; the mental image of Teyla crawling across the floor only to be caught by Elizabeth entering his mind without permission and would probably remain stuck there for a while. Jack would probably find it hilarious, speaking of which...

"Is Jack back yet?" John questioned, knowing his friend had supposedly been planning to head back to school early, something about his mother driving him crazy with all her 'I missed you' fussing.

"He was going to come back early but changed his mind, he'll be back this afternoon," Elizabeth informed him "Teal'c and Ronon are already here, so is Vala, Sam and Daniel; everyone else should be here by tonight."

"So were you and Teyla okay over Christmas?" he asked, leaving the two girls here over the holidays had not sat well with him.

"We were fine, we had a good time actually though Teyla dragged me shopping a few times too often," Elizabeth replied, saying the last part a little louder obviously directing it at Teyla who turned around and smiled innocently before going back to her conversation. Elizabeth shook her head and John decided she seemed much more relaxed than she usually was, more comfortable and it was something he definitely liked seeing. "Come on, we should get lunch before the rest of the student population decide to do the same."

* * *

There was an envelope attached to her bedroom door and Teyla recognised the handwriting easily as her father's. She pulled at the note gently, the sticky substance that allowed it to stay attached to the door giving way without any real protest before she walked into her room. Dropping the envelope on her desk she took off her coat and threw it onto her bed, sighing and rolling her eyes when she threw it just a little too hard and it slid off the opposite side.

Ignoring it for now she picked up the envelope again, pulling out the piece of paper and opening it up to reveal more of her father's handwriting. He'd written to her almost everyday over Christmas, every letter containing an apology for not being able to come and see her after the whole thing with Mathos and having to miss out on Christmas. She'd told him in every reply that his first apology had been accepted and the thousand or so since then were completely unnecessary but the next letter would come with another apology.

This letter was no different, starting out with an apology before he told her how boring his business trip was turning out to be. She knew he was exaggerating slightly, she doubted very much that anybody had fallen asleep whilst discussing important changes to the law. He told her he was looking forward to seeing her later in the school year and she realised not for the first time how much she missed him.

She wished she could have seen him after what happened with Mathos, he'd been busy and she understood that but she would have preferred to have him there. Her friends had all been great, especially Jack, Elizabeth, John and Ronon, they'd given her enough strength to get through it. Everything was pretty much back to normal now, there was an occasional whisper or glare from some of the Mathos admirers who still weren't happy about their charming professor being taken away. Teyla glanced at the bin where the unexpected present she'd gotten was still sticking out from amongst the rest of the rubbish, a book titled '101 ways to get your teacher fired' that she and Elizabeth had found wrapped up and propped against their door on Christmas morning. The book obviously intended to be a joke in any other circumstance, for a teenager with a few authority issues, had in this case been a not so subtle reminder of what had happened.

She put the letter down on the table, dropping a book on top of it so it would get blown off and go missing. Elizabeth walked into the room as she was picking her coat up from the floor; she smiled when she saw Teyla.

"We're all going into town for dinner once the last few people are back which should be any minute, Laura says it's not optional," Elizabeth informed her and Teyla nodded, putting her coat down on her bed more carefully this time before walking over to her wardrobe to decide what to wear, she'd accumulated a lot more clothes over Christmas.

As usual Elizabeth took very little time in deciding what she wanted to wear and her room mate disappeared into the bathroom. It was cold out so Teyla grabbed her favourite pair of jeans and three inch black heals, they ought to help keep her warm and look good. She routed through her tops, settling for the long sleeve, plain black one just as the bathroom door opened.

In the time it had taken Teyla to decide what to wear, Elizabeth had chosen her clothes, changed into them and was now sat at the dresser doing her hair. Teyla grabbed her clothes and headed to the bathroom, Elizabeth was halfway through tying her hair back, something she'd grown accustomed to doing over Christmas.

"Leave your hair down, it looks nicer," Teyla said absently as she walked into the bathroom, flicking on the lights to the windowless room as she closed the door behind her.

"You might wanna hurry, Laura wants us down in the cafeteria in twenty minutes," Elizabeth called through the door. Janet and Cameron were the only students still to arrive, both of them coming from Earleth which was a three day trip and neither of them were going to get a chance to settle before they had to walk into town, Teyla couldn't help but feel bad for them. It would be nice for the group to go out for dinner though; now that everyone was together again it was good chance to catch up.

* * *

Jack could honestly say he was glad to be back at school, as much as he loved his parents his mother's fussing was slowly driving him crazy. One of the good things about coming to Pegasus was the freedom he got from his parents and all the things that were expected of him as the son of the Governors. He could just be himself here, hang out with his friends and do his homework assignments in his own time, not when his parents thought it was best.

He had really missed his friends, Elizabeth, Teyla and John in particular; Elizabeth and Teyla seemed to have enjoyed their Christmas even if they had been stuck in school for the duration. He'd been planning to come back a few days earlier but his mother had insisted he stay for the rest of the holidays since she wouldn't get to see him until later in the school year.

The large group walked into the restaurant and were seen to a table, a large circular one in the corner, one that was out of the way of the rest of the restaurant and would seat everyone. Everyone took their seats, grabbing menus and discussing their Christmas holidays. The young waitress that had been unfortunate enough to end up serving their table came over and started writing down their orders, she'd used several pieces of paper by the time she walked away and Jack figured they were going to cause anarchy in the kitchen with the amount of food they'd ordered.

Jack looked around the restaurant; there were a few other groups of students who had all had the same idea as them. It was fairly quiet though so hopefully they wouldn't cause too much fuss by their last minute turn up, with a group this big they usually booked ahead, gave the restaurants some notice.

He turned back to the table in time to hear Janet already relating the story of their Christmas Eve, a rather fun night out which had ended in humiliation for Jack. He'd wondered how long it was going to take his friend to start telling that story; it seemed it hadn't taken very long at all.

"He was so drunk I don't think he had a clue what he was doing," Janet stated laughing. "He climbed up on the stage and started singing... I don't even know what he was singing, it was just a bunch of slurred and probably made up words. Cameron and I finally managed to convince him to come down and he walked straight off the stage as though he thought the floor would continue at that height. He fell face first into the chocolate fountain... you can imagine what he looked like after that."

Janet was now laughing too hard to continue talking and Cameron was in hysterics too, the rest of the group were laughing and Jack decided to glare at Janet. She could never help herself, any embarrassing stories she had about him tended to just flow out of her mouth until she was giggling too much to continue.

"The best part is," Cameron began and Jack groaned "We have pictures."

"Where are they?" Teyla exclaimed in excitement and Jack turned to look at the petite brunette sitting next to him.

"Have I not been embarrassed enough?" he questioned and Teyla shook her head with a smile.

"Not until I've seen those pictures, possibly made copies of them and pinned them up all over the school," she replied and Jack narrowed his eyes at her.

"You wouldn't," he said and Teyla gave him a mischievous look, he knew, despite what that expression might say, that she wouldn't do that but the thought was not a pleasant one.

"Teyla, leave him alone," Elizabeth said grinning,

"No," Teyla replied and turned to grab the pictures from Cameron; she burst into hysterics and handed the pictures to Ronon. Jack groaned as they were passed around the table, everyone laughing so hard their stomach's started to ache. Elizabeth, however, laughed for a few moments before putting the picture down and reaching for her bag. Teyla froze when she what her friend was doing, her face going pale and her eyes wide.

Elizabeth pulled some photos out of her bag and smiled at Teyla "These are from Christmas day, Teyla dragged me out that night and the club we went to had some guy taking photos. I came back the next day and asked for copies of the ones Teyla was in," Elizabeth explained, sounding rather pleased with herself as she handed them to Jack. John had obviously got a glimpse of them because he started laughing and Teyla sunk into her chair.

Teyla was standing on the bar, bottles of alcohol in either hand as she was dancing; Jack laughed and moved onto the next photo. Teyla again except this time she had done something very similar to him, she'd fallen off the bar and the photographer had caught her in mid air, obviously screaming as she fell.

"I cannot believe you brought those," Teyla said to Elizabeth as she made a grab for the photos. Jack moved them out of her reach and threw them across the table. They scattered and the rest of the group picked them up, getting a good laugh from them.

"What goes around comes around," Jack told Teyla who sat back in her chair sulking.

"So other than Teyla's performance, did the two of you have a good Christmas?" Carson asked and Elizabeth nodded since Teyla was still sulking.

"It was good, the school had Christmas dinner for everyone who was still here and we had plenty of presents to open, thank you everyone by the way," Elizabeth stated and Teyla finally sat up straight in her chair again.

"And we hardly got glared at," she added, reminding everyone of the events that had occurred shortly before Christmas.

"We've met the new Defence teacher, the one replacing Mathos, he seems real nice," Elizabeth said.

"Good cos we have defence tomorrow," Janet said with a sigh "It'll be nice to be able to go through a whole defence lesson without the teacher checking me out."

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

**Bunnylass – **I'm glad the first chapter was worth the wait and that you enjoyed Jack and Teyla's Christmas antics. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Saphire – **Of course Janet would have pictures of Jack's drunken antics, I'm glad you enjoyed the first chapter and thanks for the review.

**Sparkly – **Yeah... you weren't one of those waiting for this (rolls eyes) lol. I love embarrassing Jack stories too and he is so the type of person that would have tonnes. I'm glad you liked the book Teyla was given for Christmas, not a nice gift but the idea wouldn't leave me alone. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Jammeke – **Sorry about the wait for this, I know I took my time but RL is kinda crazy for me at the moment. Thank you so much for the review, I'm glad you enjoy my AU's, I really love writing them and I have plenty more in mind. It's good to know you enjoyed the first chapter and I hope you enjoy this one too.

**Steph – **Get back to your end of the deal lol, I'm glad you liked the John and Elizabeth bit in the last chapter, I'm so glad I finally get to write them in this now. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Belanna30 – **There'll be a lot more John and Elizabeth in this instalment and you'll get to find out more about Elizabeth and her dad too. I hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks for the review.

**Bite Beccy – **I hope the story is worth the wait, I'm glad you're enjoying it and there'll be more of Elizabeth and you'll find out about her dad in this one too. Thanks for the review.

**Kuroima – **This story is going to be a bit darker than the last instalment, the friendships will really be tested. I can so picture Jack and Teyla embarrassing themselves too, thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

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Chapter 2

Spell Casting had been a fairly easy lesson, just something to ease them all back in but the Professor has made sure that they all understood how much harder things got from that point, not just in Spell Casting but in all their subjects. Exams for first years started in four months, they had half the syllabus to learn in that time and that was in every other subject too. It would be hard work from here on out and Elizabeth felt slightly nervous now she knew how close the exams were.

John had taken it with his usually laid back attitude but Elizabeth hadn't failed to notice that he paid that bit more attention during class. Teyla seemed to be as worried about it as she was and Jack was somewhere in the middle.

With spell casting finally over John and Elizabeth went to the cafeteria to enjoy their free period whilst Jack and Teyla headed to their potions lesson. They walked passed the Atala notice board and Elizabeth stopped when she saw the new piece of paper stuck there amongst all the others. She took a step closer to read it, John coming to a stop by her side when he realised she was no longer walking.

'_Atala Guild Meeting, Tuesday lunchtime, Assembly Hall, ALL members MUST attend, anyone unable to make it should see an Atala senior beforehand.'_

"I wonder what that's about," John said thoughtfully "I didn't think they'd call a meeting this soon after the holidays. You'd think they'd let people settle back in first."

"Must be important if their making everyone attend, from the sound of it it's almost mandatory," Elizabeth replied continuing toward their usual table. She dropped her bag and coat onto it, taking her purse and heading toward the small cafeteria queue.

"I think Jack's a bad influence on me," she said as she picked up a piece of cake and John smiled, grabbing a piece for himself. They paid for them and made their way back to the table, both of them sitting down in time for Marcus, Laura and Janet to arrive.

"Can you believe Sociology was cancelled, our first lesson after the holidays and we get there to find a note saying that the teacher won't be back from her skiing holiday until this afternoon," Marcus said as the three of them ditched their bags on the table.

"Ooo, Cake I want some," Laura stated and headed toward the cafeteria, dragging Marcus with her as Janet sat down.

"Get me some," she shouted and Elizabeth vaguely heard Laura shout something back but she couldn't tell if it was a 'yes' or a 'no'.

"Jack's gonna get us all fat," John said as he took a bite of his cake. "Did you see the Atala board?"

"No, why?" Janet asked, sitting up straighter.

"Meeting tomorrow lunch time, doesn't sound like an optional one either," he told her and Janet frowned.

"I didn't think they'd call one that quick," she replied just as Laura and Marcus returned with cake. Laura handed Janet some who smiled gratefully. "Atala meeting tomorrow," she said and Laura tried to respond through a mouth full of cake only to realise it was best to wait.

"Real nice Laura," Marcus commented only to be hit over the head in response. "I swear you keep that up and you're gonna give me brain damage," he stated and when Laura – now finished with the cake in her mouth – tried to respond he cut her off "And don't say I don't have a brain damage."

Looking slightly dejected that she hadn't been able to get her insult in Laura sat back in her chair, eating another piece of cake. Janet and Elizabeth laughed while John rolled his eyes at the pair of them and Marcus just looked pleased with himself.

* * *

Professor Grant was probably Ronon's favourite teacher, though you could tell he loved History and loved to teach it, he was reserved about it, not showing the level of... enthusiasm that teacher's like Professor Niya did. He kept the subject interesting, kept his students wanting to learn but he didn't go on and on about it with a huge grin on his face. He walked through the classroom, in between the rows of desks as he told them about the Etarian Independence war, Garnath had been in control of Etarian for almost a century. An organised rebellion fought back for almost half that time before they finally turned the war around, gathering enough people to make the Garnath losses severe enough that they were soon pulled out and the Etarians were given their country back.

He made scribbled, barely readable notes on his paper, grateful that even if no one else could read his handwriting, he at least could. On one side of him Vala was whispering something to Cameron even as her class mate tried to focus on the lesson. Grant of course noticed and stopped in front of her, leaning down so his dark brown eyes were at the same level as hers, his long scruffy grey beard almost touching the desk.

"Something you'd like to share with the class Miss Malduran?" he questioned and Vala silently shook her head. Grant raised an eyebrow at her, standing up straight and looking around the rest of the classroom. "If you wish to whisper sweet nothings in Mr Mitchell's ear, please do it on your own time," he stated and Ronon watched with a barely concealed smirk as Cameron went slightly red and sunk down his seat, the ladies man finding reason to be embarrassed, he supposed it was different when it was a friend, normally the comment wouldn't bother him.

Vala stood up, brushing her long black hair back over her shoulders and smiling sweetly. "I was actually saying that the leader of the Etarian rebellion was kinda hot, even if he did die over 800 years ago."

Vala sat down again and leaned back in her seat, not a trace of embarrassment in her features. At the other side of him Ronon heard Teal'c stifle a laugh and he could see Cameron doing the same. Though Vala could be irritating at times he rather liked her, liked having her in lessons, she could always be counted on to provide moments of entertainment in the middle of boring lectures.

"Miss Malduran, you'll have detention tomorrow lunchtime," Professor Grant informed her and Vala smiled again.

"Actually could we rearrange that, I have a Guild meeting then?" she questioned and Ronon looked down at the table, thankful that his dreadlocks hid his face from view as he smiled.

* * *

John was taking full advantage of his free period, since his lunchtime was being lost to the Guild meeting he grabbed dinner now. Jack was doing the same, the two men tucking into their food as Elizabeth and Teyla sat talking about the exams in four months. John didn't find the subject particularly appealing so he'd opted out of it but if they continued much longer he was going to have to break it up.

He took another bite of his burger, making sure he'd still have enough room for the refreshments that would be made available at the meeting; Atala meetings always had refreshments available, more so if the meeting was at lunch time.

"I think the potions exam will be the hardest, there's a written and a practical segment to it," Teyla said to Elizabeth, a slight nervousness in her tone and Jack shuddered, from what John had heard potions was not Jack's best lesson. He'd caused explosions three times in the four months before the holidays, no one had been hurt but John felt it was as shame that potions was one of the few lessons they didn't have together, it would make Professor Penrose's sleep inducing lessons far more interesting.

"Aren't you two gonna eat anything?" John questioned, he'd heard enough talk of exams for one day, they wouldn't even be happening for another four months. It was only the second day back from the Christmas holidays and the two girls were already worrying about it.

"No, we'll eat something at the meeting," Elizabeth replied just as a shadow passed over the table, John turned around too see what had suddenly blocked the light from the window, coming face to face with Kolya and his lackey's.

"If it isn't the Atalas," Kolya said arrogance in his voice which seemed to be a permanent feature in everything the guy did. "You're sitting at our table."

"Really?" Jack questioned, feigning surprise as he started looking around him. "I didn't see your name on it anywhere."

"It was the only free table when we came in and besides I believe you usually sit over there," Teyla commented, pointing over to where Kolya, Sora and Laden were usually sat with their heads together, performing some prohibited magic trick or another.

"That table's taken, so are the others and we want to sit here," Kolya replied, sending a threatening look at Teyla s if daring her to open her mouth and talk back to him again, Teyla of course took up the challenge.

"Well, you'll just have to wait until we're ready to leave then," she stated, turning away from the conversation and reaching into her bag.

"Or find somewhere else to sit, there's a table over in the corner," Elizabeth added as she too decided that was the end of the conversation as far as she was concerned.

A dangerous look passed over Kolya's face, they'd only met him four months ago, only ever really saw him around the school but they knew he didn't like to be talked back to, anyone who said no to him usually got threatened or scared into changing their minds, there was a few unproven beatings too. He took a step closer to the table, his eyes fixed on Teyla and Elizabeth and the intention in the movement was clear. Both John and Jack stood up; glad they were on the side of the table near Kolya, in between him and the girls.

"I don't think you really want to cause a scene here," John said, drawing Kolya's attention to him. His eyes moved between John, Jack, the girls and the rest of the room before he backed off, walking away while glaring at them.

"This isn't over," he stated and John rolled his eyes.

"We should head to the meeting," Teyla said as she glanced at the clock on the wall. "We don't want to be late."

The group gathered up their things, leaving the cafeteria and heading for the main building. They were among the first to arrive, the seniors were still setting up the refreshments table, some of the other junior Atalas were helping whilst others just sat on the chairs that had been set out. They moved to sit on the chairs to the left where freshman guild members always sat and waited for everyone else to arrive.

"You know we could have just moved and let Kolya have the table," Teyla said humorously, she knew as well as the rest of them they would never have done that.

"And let him think he'd got his way?" Jack questioned.

"Let who think he'd got his way?" Sam questioned as she sat down next to Jack, Rodney and Radek sitting at the other side of her bickering about some scientific potion theory that John had never heard of, he hoped that wasn't on the exam.

"Kolya," Jack replied "He tried to kick us off our table in the cafeteria."

"Tried being the operative word," Teyla stated with a smile. John and Elizabeth, who were both sitting in front turned around in their chairs as more of the group arrived, Carson, Daniel and Kate taking the chairs next to them. Ronon sat next to Teyla behind them and Cameron, Teal'c and Vala sat on the third row, leaving just enough room for Janet, Laura and Marcus when they finally arrived. The majority of the other Guild members had arrived by now as well, all of them sitting in their usual places, just short of 100 people in the hall now.

"Is everyone here," Andrew asked, the senior looking around to try and figure out who was missing. He got several responses, people shouting the names of those who had yet to arrive who should be on their way. A few more late comers came through the door, Janet, Laura and Marcus among them and Andrew decided to start the meeting.

"Okay, I hope everyone had a good Christmas," he began, many people cheering and he was forced to wait for the noise level to go back down before continuing. "The rest of they year, as the majority of you know is pretty hectic. Everyone has the end of year exams to worry about, not to mention the end of year parties but also... the inter guild competition."

John wasn't sure whether to be excited or dismayed, the next few months really were going to be busy, he couldn't believe he'd forgotten about the guild competition and from the look of the other freshman Atala's faces, they'd all forgotten about it as well.

"As always the guild competition is at the end of June, just after the exams finish which gives us a little over five months to get ready," Andrew continued "So from now on we'll have a meeting every two weeks in this hall, the exact dates will be posted on the notice board in the cafeteria. You've all been assigned your events, me and the other fifth year seniors have copies of the list so everyone form orderly lines and you'll be told what you're doing. If you need any help, have any questions or have a problem with the event's assigned to you feel free to talk to one of the seniors, obviously your exams come first but we'd really like to win this year."

In a flurry of activity everyone in the hall stood up, making their way over to the seniors that were stood holding lists. John walked over to Andrew along with Elizabeth, standing in the short line and waiting to find out what he'd be doing for the competition.

"John Sheppard," Andrew said as he reached the front of the line, looking down the list to find the name. "You'll be on the Year 1 Defence Team and the Junior football Team."

John nodded stepping to the side to wait for Elizabeth, he was actually quite pleased with his events, he'd be good at Defence and he'd enjoy football. He waited and listened as Andrew informed Elizabeth she'd be on the Junior Debate team and the Year 1 Spell Casting Team. She smiled and nodded following John away from the line and back to where the rest of the group were retaking their seats.

Ronon was sitting with Teyla, the latter smiling in amusement. "Ronon's on the wrestling team," she told them, still smiling.

"That and the football team," Ronon said not seeming to find anything funny despite Teyla grinning next to him.

"I'm on the football team too along with Defence," Jack said as he sat back down with Sam, Rodney and Radek. "And with you on the wrestling team there's no way we could possibly lose. I'm sure Teal'c will have been assigned to it as well."

"I have indeed," Teal'c replied as he too retook his chair. "I am also on the Baseball Team."

"Hell yeah, the Junior Baseball team is gonna kick ass, me and Cameron are on it too," Lorne said as he returned. Before they could find out anymore of what people were doing, Andrew called for the room's attention. The Atala's all returned to their seats as Andrew waited patiently for the assembly hall to quieten down again.

"Now that everyone knows what they're doing you need to get yourselves ready, from now on that's what the Atala meetings will be for. Most of you have two events to prepare for so share your time wisely and please remember that while you will receive trophies and certificates for any events we win, the guild competition is mostly just for fun, your exams are far more important so don't let this affect them," Andrew said, his voice more serious than it usually was. "Now get to work."

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

**Authors Note - Okay, two things to say, one is sorry for the wait, I know it took me a while to get this chapter up. The other is a WARNING which I forgot to put on the first chapter, this story does deal with the issue of drugs, figured I should just let everyone know. **

**Sparkly – **Wow, I'm glad you enjoy my stories so much, especially this one. Laura and Vala are a lot of fun to write, they're both sassy characters who don't take themselves seriously. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Saphire – **I'm glad you liked the scene with Vala; it was a lot of fun to write and so is her character. Of course we haven't seen the last of Kolya; he has a big part to play throughout the series. I hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks for the review.

**Kuroima – **Chaya has plans but you won't find them out until much later in the series and Kolya has a big part to play but not just yet. I'm glad the events for the guild competition suit the characters, I was agonising over that list for a while. Thanks for the review.

**Jammeke – **I think everyone will get more nervous about the exams when they're a little bit closer, we will be seeing more of Kolya but not too much in this story. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Bunnylass – **I have quite a few O'Neill mannerisms myself lol and I love cake! (joins swooning) I love protective John and Jack, it's very sexy lol. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Belanna30 – **I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter, there'll be some more Jack and Sam later in this story and don't worry, Ronon and Teyla will get to go on another date soon. Thanks for the review.

**Steph – **Negotiating detention is so something Vala would do lol, I'm glad you enjoyed that scene and I hop you enjoy this chapter, thanks for the review.

**Sparkly Goodness – **Thanks for the review, I'm glad you're enjoying this series and I hope you enjoy this chapter too.

* * *

Chapter 3

The defence classroom had changed over the Christmas holidays; it had been redecorated to fit the new teacher's tastes. Gone were all of Mathos's personal possessions, the posters and displays that had been on the wall. There were new ones there now, all with the same purpose to help the students learn but there was nothing here of Mathos, nothing that would associate the room with its former owner.

Teyla sat down at the back of the classroom in the same seat she had occupied for most of the year so far. Elizabeth, John and Jack sat with her, the two boys watching the Mathos admirers warily, it was their first defence lesson since Christmas and while the issue had mostly died down now, some of Mathos's fans were still a little sore that their favourite teacher was gone now. Other than a few glares, Teyla's entrance went better than she'd been expecting it to.

"Good morning class, I'm Professor Antar and I'll be your defence teacher for the remainder of the year," the teacher stated as he walked into the room, depositing a brief case in his desk before he turned to observe the room. Antar was the exact opposite of Mathos in appearance, a short man, slightly shorter than Teyla, with scruffy blonde hair and blue eyes. The man had made a point of meeting with Teyla, he'd approached her and Elizabeth shortly after he'd arrived at the end of the holidays. He'd apologised for Mathos, said that the man gave Defence teachers a bad name and assured Teyla that most were not like that.

"Now, you'll have to give me some time to learn all of your names," Antar stated "Now does someone want to tell me where you got to in the syllabus."No hands were raised so Antar picked the young woman sitting right in front of him. "Miss..."

"Larson," the young woman replied with a sigh "We'd finished Basic Spells theory; Professor Mathos was going to have us practice them more."

Teyla didn't fail to notice the girl's wistful tone at the mention of Mathos, nor did she fail to see the dirty look the girl directed at her. Teyla ignored it, she'd been getting glared at and whispered about for almost a month now and she'd been more than prepared for this lesson.

"Well then, today we'll go over a summary basic defence spell theory, let me see exactly what you all know and then next lesson we'll put it into practice, I need to know where everyone is at anyway," Antar stated, there were several sighs and groans around the room as everyone was instructed to open their text books.

"I like this guy," Jack stated thoughtfully as he studied the teacher "He's nothing like Mathos at all."

"He seems nice enough," John added, opening his text book and searching for the right page. "What Page did he say?"

"Twenty six," Elizabeth replied absently.

"Now who can tell me what the most important factors in a spell are?" Antar questioned looking around the classroom for someone to answer. "Mr..."

"Green," the boy replied, looking as though he wanted to sink into his chair. "Accuracy and intent."

"That's right, your words must be very accurate, a single word can change the meaning of a spell, change its affect. You must also keep your intent clear in your mind; the spell reacts as much to the thoughts that create it as it does the words. This is especially important in defensive magic, you must keep your desire to defend at the forefront of your mind, if there is also a wish to harm then the spell may do exactly that, going from a purely defensive spell to a combination of defence and offence," Antar explained, they all already knew all of this and Teyla was fairly sure Jack and John were about to catch up on their sleep.

"It's nice isn't it," Elizabeth said quietly, directing the statement passed John and Jack to Teyla. "Not being stared at when you're trying to learn.

"Definitely."

* * *

Marcus sighed and wished he'd gone with John, Jack, Elizabeth and Teyla for dinner, the four of them had gone into town and feeling lazy today, Marcus had opted to stay here for lunch with Laura and Janet. The girls had taken it upon themselves to gang up on him, not that it was something they didn't do very often, it was a rather common occurrence, why was he friend with these two again?

"Really Marcus," Janet said as she reached over to hold a piece of his hair. "I think you should grow it long"

"Shoulder length long," Laura added with a grin and Marcus batted Janet's hand away from his head, glaring at them.

"There is nothing wrong with my hair," Marcus replied, more defensively than he had intended but he'd been enduring this for an hour now, where the hell was the rest of the group, they should be out of lessons by now?

"You know we're kidding," Laura stated, grin still in place "We love you just the way you are."

"I don't know, I think I'd prefer him if he didn't want to kill his lab partner," someone said as they approached the table, Marcus recognised the voice immediately and turned to see his potions partner standing beside him. Cal was a fairly built guy; he had nothing on Ronon and Teal'c who he'd be going up against for wrestling in the Guild competition. He had dark hair and dark eyes, a tattoo of a devil on his right arm and the tell tale signs of a healed eyebrow piercing above his left eye. He'd had a troubled past, Marcus knew that from their conversations in Potions but he seemed to have genuinely changed, turned his life around and Marcus could only respect him for that.

"That was one time Cal," Marcus said as both Laura and Janet laughed. "And it was partly your fault, you told me to add the Tinas root, I didn't know the potion wasn't ready for it yet."

"You did manage to stand far back enough that the explosion barely touched you, poor Cal was standing right next to it," Janet laughed and Marcus held back a smile at the memory of his partner, half charred and half covered with the yellow potion mixture that had been thrown into the air.

"Sit down Cal," Laura said, gesturing tot he empty seat beside Marcus.

"Yeah, I'll just get something to eat and then join you guys, as long as I'm not intruding," he replied and Janet shook her head with a smile.

"Of course not, the others will be here soon, we can introduce you," she stated, knowing as well as Marcus did that Cal was a bit of a loner, he was a nice guy but he didn't make friends easily. Fortunately for him Laura, Janet and Marcus had done all the friend making, he'd just been dragged along for the ride.

"I can't believe it's only lunch time, I'm exhausted," Rodney said as he slumped into one of the empty chairs. Sam and Radek joined him, sitting down a little more gracefully than Rodney had.

"He's always like this after Phys Ed, you'd think the man had never heard of running before he came here," Sam commented, laughing at the attempted glare Rodney gave her in return.

"Our friend from Potions is gonna join us, that alright?" Marcus asked and received two nods and a murmur from Rodney whose head was now in his arms on the table.

"That's fine, who is he?" Radek questioned.

"Cal Philips, my potions partner," Marcus introduced as Cal returned to the table with his food. "Cal, this is Sam, Radek and the moping one is Rodney."

"I am not moping," Rodney's muffled and barely distinguishable voice came from his hidden face. "I'm merely resting my eyes after a hard days work."

* * *

John listened carefully as Trel told them exactly how to prepare their potions, they were putting together a few pretty volatile ingredients and if they were mishandled the results would not be pretty. It wasn't exactly dangerous, they didn't start handling and creating the seriously dangerous stuff until their senior years. Still, John had no desire to be covered in goo, ash or anything else that some of his friends had been unlucky enough to end up with in their potions lessons.

Beside him Elizabeth was listening just as intently, hopefully between them they would keep the contents of their potion in the beaker and not the air. Professor Trel finally finished his monotone lecture, a few of the students shook off the sleep that had started to settle over them throughout the lesson. John saw someone at the back of the class elbow their sleeping lab partner, the young man looked up dazedly trying to focus on his surroundings and remember where he was.

"Alright class, go ahead and make your potions, anyone who still isn't sure what they're doing should collect an instruction sheet from the front," Trel stated, Elizabeth took a deep breath and turned to him.

"I think we should get the instructions just in case," she said and John nodded his head, his desire to stay clean was apparently shared.

"I'll get the equipment and the first half of the ingredients, you get the sheet and the second half," he suggested and Elizabeth hummed her agreement before going to the front of the class. John went the opposite way, collecting a beaker, Bunsen burner, tripod and mixing rod from the back of the room and taking them to the desk before going in search of the ingredients. Everything had been laid out across the counter that spanned the back of the class and the wall to one side. After getting the necessary amount of Kabrina root, a bottle of extract from a plant who's name he couldn't pronounce, another bottle of Dreylan wolf blood and a pack of Ply leaves, he returned to his desk. Elizabeth was still gathering her half of the ingredients but she'd already put the instruction sheet on the lab bench so he picked it up and started measuring out the Wolf blood.

"Don't put too much of that in, we don't want to blow it up," Elizabeth instructed as she returned to the table and started laying the ingredients out.

"Believe me, I have no intention of getting it wrong, I'll never be able to pick on Jack again if I join him on the list of people who've blown up their potions and ended up covered in something," John told her and she smiled as she started counting out the leaves. John poured the blood into the beaker and a moment later Elizabeth added a few leaves.

"You mix, I'll measure," Elizabeth stated and John picked up the Bunsen burner, placing the beaker on top of the tripod and the burner underneath, switching it on so it could heat the potion. He started mixing just as Elizabeth added several more ingredients and he watched as the potion turned light blue, the colour the instructions said it should turn at this point.

"Last ingredient," John said as Elizabeth added the plant extract, the blue darkened like it was suppose to and the two of them held their breath for a moment. When there was no explosion they sighed in relief and John sat back down on his stool.

"Well done Miss Weir, Mr Sheppard," Trel said as he walked around the classroom to check on everyone's progress "You're the first pair to successfully complete the potion, when you're ready you can clean up."

No sooner had Trel finished talking there was an explosion behind them, John and Elizabeth turned around as the dark and light blue goo rained down over all the students near the now shattered beaker. John held back a curse as the slimy substance covered his head, face and clothes, missing his eyes only because he was wearing goggles and if that weird taste in his mouth was goo someone was gonna pay.

He looked at Elizabeth at the same moment she looked at him and was slightly bewildered when she started laughing, he couldn't help but join her, they'd spent the entire lesson ensuring their own potion didn't explode only to get covered in goo from someone else's. She took her goggles off and looked down herself, her lab coat had protected the majority of her but part of her jacket was sticking out and if the wet feeling down his back was anything to go by the goo was probably dripping under the white coat anyway.

He took his own goo covered goggles off with an equally goo covered hand and could see Elizabeth properly now. The thick blue slime was dripping from her face and hair, working it's was down her coat and probably underneath it too.

"You look like a swamp monster," he told her with a grin.

"And you don't exactly look any better," she laughed, reaching forward to wipe some of the goo away from his eyes.

"Alright, finish your potions and then you can get cleaned up, your equipment will be put away for you," Trel said, almost as goo covered as they were and not sounding at all amused by the situation but then the man never sounded like anything so that wasn't really saying much. John and Elizabeth were the only ones finished so they left the classroom, walking down the hallway to where the boys and girls toilets were. As luck would have it Jack and Teyla just happened to be walking up the corridor at that moment, both of them burst into hysterics when they saw their friends.

"What happened to you guys?" Jack asked through his laughter and John narrowed his eyes at him, wondering if it would have any affect through the goo, apparently not since Jack just laughed harder.

"The kid behind us blew up his potion, half the class is covered in this stuff, we just happen to be among the worst," Elizabeth explained still sounding as amused as when they were in the class room. "We have to get cleaned up."

She moved to walk passed Teyla who backed away quickly to avoid being slimed and Elizabeth laughed as she continued down the corridor. John glared at Jack as he continued to laugh before running after Elizabeth down the corridor.

"Hey guys," Teyla shouted and they both turned around, the flash of light catching them off guard and it took John a moment to see the camera Teyla had recently bought in her hand. "I'm going to get this developed now; the others have to see this."

"You," John began and Teyla yelped and ran off down the corridor with Jack hot on her heals.

"Let's just get clean John," Elizabeth said as she made her way toward the bathroom. "I'll meet you out here," she stated and disappeared into the girl's toilets. John went into the men's, catching sight of himself and grimacing at the swamp monster look Teyla had just caught on camera, what was it with this group and getting embarrassing pictures of each other.

He took of the formerly white lab coat and laid it at the side of the sink, he started running the water, getting as much as he could in his hands before splashing it on his face. It removed some of the goo, enough that he could see part of his skin. It took him a few minutes to get enough of the stuff off his face, hair and hands that he could make the walk to his room without suffering too much embarrassment or leaving a goo trail behind him. The stuff was already going hard, it would probably never come out of his pants where the lab coat hadn't covered them, his shoes might be salvageable.

Grabbing the lab coat he left the bathroom, Elizabeth was already waiting for him, her own lab coat in her hand, blue goo covering the lower half of her trousers and the collar of her jacket. There were blue streaks running through her now wet hair where she'd managed to get some of the goo out and there were still splodges of the stuff on her neck and around the edges of her face.

"You still look a mess," Elizabeth commented and John smirked.

"So do you," he replied and then started walking back to the class as a few more goo covered students headed to the bathroom. "Let's just get our stuff and get out of here."

They made their way back into class and dropped their lab coats into the laundry bin at the back before picking up their bags. There were still several students trying to complete the potion whilst not dripping any goo into it, John felt kinda bad for them, except maybe for the two who had blown up the potion in the first place and had now had to start again, they were the only people more covered in goo than John and Elizabeth had been, okay maybe he felt a little bad for them.

"Thank God we have a free period next," John said as he and Elizabeth left the classroom.

"Yeah, it's going to take a really long shower to get this stuff out of my hair," Elizabeth moaned as she ran a hand through her hair only for it to get caught by the now hard goo.

"I'll meet you in the cafeteria," John stated as they left the main building and went to their separate dorms.

* * *

Teyla and Jack were no where to be seen when Elizabeth finally arrived in the cafeteria, it had taken half an hour, almost scorching hot water and a scrubbing brush to get the hardened goo off her skin and out of her hair. Her trousers and jacket were a total loss; her black shoes had a chance of being cleaned when she had the energy to actually attempt it. She dropped into the chair next to John; there was no trace of the goo left on him either though she figured the clothes he'd been wearing were as much of a loss as hers. He smiled as she sat next to him and she ignored the amused looks she was getting from the others at the table, Jack and Teyla might be missing but it seemed they'd already shared the story.

"Where are they?" she asked John warily.

"In town, apparently Teyla really wanted to get the pictures in her camera developed," John told her and Elizabeth groaned she leant back in her chair; this was her punishment for getting those pictures of Teyla at Christmas. "On the plus side, our class is actually ahead of Jack and Teyla's so they still have to do the potion, with any luck Jack will mess it up and walk out of the room as covered in goo as we were."

"And since we have a free period when they have potions, we can stake out the classroom with a camera of our own," Elizabeth joked but John could detect the hint of seriousness in her tone, it was an idea she'd actually consider and so would he.

"This is gonna turn into a war, the battle of embarrassing pictures," John laughed and Elizabeth smiled as she stood up.

"I'm going to get something to eat, you coming?" she questioned and John nodded as he stood up to follow her. They got their meals and rejoined Marcus, Laura and Janet at the table.

"You know you probably don't have very long before they get back, they left ages ago," Marcus warned them and Elizabeth and John both sighed, bracing themselves for what was to come.

"Why weren't they in their General Magic lesson?" Elizabeth questioned as though she had only just realised that the two should have been in class when they'd discovered the swamp monster version of John and Elizabeth walking through the corridor.

"Teacher got called to attend to an important matter, he cut the lesson short," Laura shrugged. "They left about an hour ago, so assuming they got the pictures developed straight away they should be... back right now."

Elizabeth reluctantly followed Laura's gaze to where Jack and Teyla were making their way through the cafeteria, grins on their faces and pictures in their hands. Teyla waved the photo at Elizabeth pointedly before she dropped it on the table. Janet grabbed it and burst into hysterics, she handed it to Laura who held it so both she and Marcus could see it, both reacting exactly the same as Janet.

"And we have an extra copy," Jack stated, handing the photo to John and Elizabeth who both paled, they really did look like a pair of swamp monsters.

The paper was abruptly pulled from their hands by Teyla who ran through the cafeteria having spotted more of their friends arriving. "Hey Ronon!"

TBC


	4. Chapter 4

**Authors Note: Sorry about the massive wait for this chapter, I feel so bad. I have many excuses I could come out with but let's just leave it as I'm sorry, I'm sorry, please forgive me lol. **

**Saphire – **I may have to add more embarrassing photos throughout the series, they're rather fun to write. Thanks for the review and sorry about the wait for this chapter.

**Sparkly – **Lorne is most definitely perfect the way he is (sighs dreamily), there's a little more Cal in this chapter, a little insight into who he is but a cryptic one I think. There will be more about Elizabeth and her dad in this story; I hope you enjoy this chapter in the meantime.

**Steph – **The little hint of Sparky in the last chapter made me squee too lol, I'm glad you liked it and thanks for the review.

**Kuroima – **More Cal in this chapter, a cryptic in sight into who he is, thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**BlueSkys91 – **Thanks for the review, I hope you enjoy this chapter and sorry about the wait.

**Sparkly Goodness – **I felt bad for covering John and Elizabeth in goo after they'd worked so hard to avoid it lol. Thanks for the review, sorry about the wait for this chapter.

**Belanna30 – **John and Elizabeth really do have their girlfriend and boyfriend like moments, it's even annoying me now lol. Thank you for the review and sorry about the wait for this chapter.

**Bunnylass – **Jack and Teyla just have the kind of good luck that would put them in the right place at the right time and John and Elizabeth really do have the opposite lol. More Cal in this chapter and thanks for the review.

**Jammeke – **Thanks for the review, I'm glad you liked the potions part of the last chapter and I'm sorry about the wait for this one.

**Stargazzr8-28 – **A little more Sam and Jack in this chapter, sorry about the wait and thank you for the review.

* * *

Chapter 4

It had taken some time but she had finally decided what she was going to wear to town that night as well as what Elizabeth was going to wear. She'd spent a good hour of her Saturday morning going through all the clothes in their room but the task was done now and she could go and enjoy lunch in the cafeteria with everyone else. She was cutting across the grass to get to the cafeteria quicker when she came face to face with a young blonde and three brunettes. The four girls stared her down with expressions not much different from the one she'd been getting for the last month.

"Let me guess," Teyla began in exasperation, cutting off the blonde group leader before she could say a word. "Mathos."

"If you think everyone's forgetting what you did then you are sadly mistaken," the blonde stated and Teyla tried not to roll her eyes.

"How could you get him fired, he was the best thing about this school?" one of the brunettes questioned and Teyla sighed.

"Actually I'd say the decor was much better," she commented which seemed to enrage all four of the girls.

"You should have counted yourself lucky that he showed that kind of interest in you, the rest of us weren't so fortunate. He rarely showed that kind of interest in his students," the blonde stated and Teyla raised an eyebrow incredulously, did this girl even pay attention to the man.

"Oh please, the guy spent every spare moment staring at girls' legs and cleavage, I'm sure yours didn't go unnoticed," Teyla told her glancing at the low cut top that the girl was wearing despite the fact that the weather was still abysmally cold.

"If it had been me, I would have showed a little more gratitude," the blonde told her.

Teyla nodded her head "Well, next time I'll make sure to recommend you to the psychotic stalker that locks me in his office."

The girl looked about ready to say something else but then turned and walked away just as Ronon joined Teyla's side. As much as she liked to take care of herself, sometimes it was really nice to have a large, very muscular boyfriend. She watched the four girls head toward the dorms and then turned to smile at Ronon gratefully.

"You alright?" he asked her and she nodded her head again.

"I'm fine, dealing with these girls is apparently a skill I have very quickly acquired," she told him and he smiled and wrapped an arm around her shoulder as they continued toward the cafeteria. She knew he didn't understand why these girls were still so defensive of the former defence teacher any more than she did but it was a fact they'd all just decided to accept, there was really no need to understand how these people thought.

"You looking forward to tonight?" Ronon questioned and Teyla smiled, snuggling closer to his warmth.

"Yeah, it will be nice to go out with the entire group again, I did not realise how much I would miss everyone over Christmas, the summer holidays should prove to be interesting. I don't think she'll say it but Elizabeth missed everyone as well, it is amazing how much she has changed in just the five months we have been here," Teyla replied, thinking back to the quiet withdrawn girl she had met on her first day here.

"She has changed a lot, but I think being here changes everyone," Ronon stated and Teyla couldn't have agreed more, she'd changed as well, the Mathos incident had made her a much stronger person. "Anyway, how about we go for dinner this week?"

"Sounds good, just let me know when."

* * *

If Rodney didn't shut up soon she was going to kill him and if there were any more dumb blonde comments whenever he disagreed with her she was going to kill him _slowly_. She wasn't sure how she had put up with him throughout the year so far and she had absolutely no idea how his family had put up with him since birth. Then again it was possible they were exactly like him, the thought was not an appealing one and it made a shiver run up her spine, one Rodney McKay was bad enough, she didn't like the idea of more of him running around.

Sam joined the back of the cafeteria queue, glad they had all opted for an early lunch since the queue was already pretty long. She cast a glance back at the table where the others were sat; Rodney was still talking, probably about the same stupid experiment. So what if his potion had gone right and hers hadn't, there was a first time for everything and at least hers didn't explode.

"Rodney driving you crazy again?" a familiar voice questioned and she realised only then that Jack was standing in the queue in front of her.

"Er... yeah," she replied slightly startled.

"Want me to beat him up for you, better yet, I'll get Ronon and Teal'c to do it?" he asked her and she smiled and shook her head.

"No, but thanks for the offer," she said as the queue moved forward and Jack grabbed the chocolate cake from the counter. Sam rolled her eyes, she should have known that's what he'd come up here for. "What exactly is it with you and cake?"

"I don't know what you're talking about?" Jack replied innocently.

"I'm sure you don't" she stated sarcastically as she picked up the drink she'd come here for. When they finally made it back to the table Rodney was still going on about the potion and the rest of the group weren't even pretending to show some interest. Teal'c was actually sleeping at the other side of the table; Laura was drawing on his face with a luminescent green marker pen while Vala egged her on. Elizabeth was actually reading and John and Lorne had engaged themselves in a thumb war while everyone else just sat there looking bored out of their minds.

Jack smacked Rodney over the back of his head as he sat down "Shut up McKay."

Rodney opened his mouth to protest but Jack merely raised an eyebrow at him and Rodney quickly closed his mouth again, finally remaining silent. The rest of the group sent grateful looks to Jack who just shrugged and stabbed his fork into his cake.

"Why didn't we think of that?" Cameron questioned.

"Because we were too busy shutting our brains off," Janet replied, lifting her head up from her folded arms and stretching.

"You mean nobody was listening to me?" Rodney questioned sounding slightly upset.

"We were listening," Lorne replied sulking from losing his game with John. "For about the first thirty seconds."

A noise from the end of the table alerted them all to Teal'c waking up, Laura had put away the pen and she and Vala were now looking completely innocent, sat talking as if they'd been doing that all along. Teal'c lifted his head from the table and everyone had told hold back a laugh, thankfully Teal'c was still half asleep and didn't notice everyone's reactions. The two girls had written hello on his forehead, drawn on horns and coloured in his eyebrows, there were also flowery designs across his cheek leading down to his neck.

"What did I miss?" Teal'c questioned obliviously and Vala burst into hysterics only to be elbowed by Laura. Teyla was clearly having trouble not laughing so she stood up and left the table, followed closely by Elizabeth.

"Nothing Teal'c," Cameron stated clapping his friend on the back. Teal'c looked at everyone in confusion before standing up.

"I believe I will go and get something to eat," he said as he walked away from the table and half the people left finally laughed.

"Somebody should tell him soon," Radek told them.

"We will... eventually," Lorne replied. "That's if the cafeteria ladies don't spoil it first."

"Plus there are a lot of reflective surfaces up there," Radek added and Laura groaned.

"Well that spoils our fun," she said as she saw Teal'c walking back towards the table, glaring at the people still there.

"Not funny," he stated pointedly as he passed them to go to the bathroom.

* * *

The music blaring through the speakers was almost loud enough to hurt her ear drums, she'd gotten used to it over the last few months, her friends always insisting she join them on their nights out. They'd already been out for a few hours now and from the look of it they weren't going to make it back to school grounds by curfew, not unless they could make the half an hour walk in less than ten minutes. It would mean sneaking back into school yet again and making it back to their dorms without being caught by the school's guard patrol.

Elizabeth smiled as John handed her another drink, Cal was with him, Marcus's lab partner had asked if he could join them and no one had refused, he seemed nice enough. Looking around the overly crowded room everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. Teyla was in the corner trying to convince Ronon to dance and Jack was already on the dance floor with Sam. Vala was making something of a spectacle of herself, the young woman had gotten drunk fairly quickly along with Laura and Janet who were drunkenly trying to help a drunken Rodney stand up, the three of them almost making as big a spectacle of themselves as Vala's attempt at dancing. The usually co-ordinated woman was stumbling from side to side, knocking into other drunks and a few mean looking sober people who just glared at her.

Everyone else was at least half way sober and currently enjoying the entertainment their not so sober friends were providing. It was going to be difficult trying to sneak back into school and get to the dorms unnoticed with this many members of the group completely smashed.

She heard John say something beside her thought the actual words were drowned out by the noise in the club. She smiled and shrugged at him, if she couldn't hear him then he probably wouldn't be able to hear her either. He laughed and took her drink from her, placing it on the bar with his and then grabbed her hand all but dragging her to the dance floor and trying not to get knocked over by Vala.

"Try to enjoy yourself," he said as he pulled her closer to him, his mouth close enough to her ear that she could actually hear him.

"I am," she replied, having to shout so he'd hear her.

"Which is why you've been stood at the bar in almost the same spot all night," he stated, at least it was something close to that and she smiled.

"I guess this just isn't my scene," she told him and he shrugged.

"Enjoy it anyway," he said and she rolled her eyes, laughing when Vala knocked into the back of Cameron and the poor man spilt his drink all over himself and Marcus.

"I think we should leave soon," Jack shouted as he and Sam manoeuvred their way across the dance floor to stand next to Elizabeth and John. "If she gets anymore drunk she might actually hurt someone."

* * *

Cal spotted Kolya and his lackeys slipping out of the club and followed them, leaving Marcus and the others behind. Outside it took him a moment to locate Kolya turning down an alley way just down the road from the club. He made his way down there, following Kolya down the alleyway, the music of the club becoming a dull background sound and the lights of the street barely providing any light. Cal stepped closer to the wall, allowing himself to disappear into the shadows so he could watch Kolya unnoticed.

He could see Kolya talking to another man, the stranger dressed entirely in black and wearing a hat to cover his face passed something to Kolya receiving money in exchange and then disappeared down the alleyway.

Kolya handed the small package to Sora who quickly hid it in her bag, casting a wary glance around but not noticing Cal standing in the shadows. He smiled to himself, a little competition could make things interesting but he had to make sure that these guys didn't get in his way.

"Hello Kolya," Cal said, stepping out of the dark and giving Kolya his best arrogant smirk.

"What are you doing here?" Kolya growled at him, he obviously hadn't been expecting any more company.

"Following you," Cal stated truthfully, he wasn't afraid of bullies and he definitely wasn't afraid of Kolya, the guy had potential but he was still an amateur, he'd dealt with worse than him. "I know what you're doing down here."

"Oh really?" Kolya questioned, walking up to the man. "And what are you going to do about it?"

"Nothing really, just thought I should give you a friendly warning, stay out of my way," Cal replied, putting as much seriousness and barely hidden threat into his voice as he could.

"Or you'll do what?" Kolya asked, squaring up to him and Cal had to give him his credit, he didn't scare easily. Instead of replying Cal smiled and walked away without another word, making his way back into the club where Marcus and the others were still enjoying themselves despite the drunken antics of some members of the group. He really did like these people, they were an interesting group, all of them very different and not necessarily the types you'd expect to group together.

"Hey Cal, where've you been?" Marcus questioned.

"Just had to get a little fresh air," he told him and Marcus nodded his head, clapping a hand on his back and guiding him toward the bar.

"Well, I do believe I owe you a drink and since we'll probably be getting out of here soon I should buy it now," Marcus stated, his voice slightly slurred from the alcohol he'd already consumed and Cal almost had to laugh when he nearly tripped over his own feet.

* * *

Ronon tried not to be annoyed by the drunk's overly grabby hands; Teyla could handle herself just fine, especially after the Mathos incident. He watched as she politely told the young man that she was not interested and if he tried to grab her ass again she'd cut his hand off, he had to smirk at the last part. The man finally seemed to get the message and walked away sulking, his friends mocking him the second he got anywhere near the rowdy group.

"Come on guys," Jack shouted "We're heading back to school; all sober people are to help the drunk people."

Teyla laughed as Rodney took that as his cue to fall over, dragging a relatively drunk Radek down with him. John and Elizabeth helped them both back to their feet as the rather large group made their way out of the club and into the cold, fresh night air. Vala was heading in the wrong direction so Ronon ran after her, turning her around so she could walk back toward the group.

"I like your hair," she told him and Ronon smirked.

"You know it's almost as much fun staying sober as it is getting drunk with these guys," Teyla stated as she moved to walk next to him, laughing once again as Vala, Laura and Janet started singing 'I want to dance with somebody' as loud as they possibly could.

"When we get near the school we're gonna have to find a way to shut them up," Daniel pointed out, watching the trio in amusement. "Otherwise Guard Patrol are gonna hear us coming a mile away."

"I have no idea how we're gonna pull this off," Kate said as she too watched the group who were being followed by a stumbling Rodney and Radek.

"I'll tell you what," Cal began with a grin. "If none of us get caught I'll buy the first round next time we come out."

"And if we don't make it, I'll buy," Jack added receiving incredulous looks from Sam and Elizabeth. "What, we're getting really good at sneaking back into school now; I bet we make it easy."

* * *

"You owe us a round," Jack stated as Cal arrived at for breakfast, a smug grin on his face.

"Are you serious, no one got caught?" Cal questioned disbelievingly and Jack resisted the urge to laugh at the expression on the man's face.

"I told you we were good," Jack replied through a yawn, why the hell he'd gotten up early on a Sunday morning when he'd been out partying half of Saturday night was beyond him, he ought to still be fast asleep in bed but it seemed his body clock was intent on waking him before midday.

"To be honest though," Teyla began as she batted Ronon's hand away from her breakfast. "I was surprised we all made it, half of the group had turned into loud, stumbling drunks," she said looking pointedly at the other end of the table where Laura and Janet were sitting, Vala, Rodney and Radek had yet to even show their faces.

"Do you have to talk so loud?" Laura questioned, lifting her head from the table to reveal her tired looking face.

"We're not talking loud," Teyla stated "You just have a hangover, a pretty bad one probably."

"I'm never drinking again," Janet told them all and Teyla and Jack both started laughing. Janet shrugged "Yeah, that'll probably last until the next time we go out."

"If that long," Laura added dropping her head back to the table. Teal'c moved to sit next to her, a pen in his hand and a mischievous smile on his face.

"Is it my turn to draw?" he questioned and Laura sat back up instantly, staring at him warily, as though he was a shark that was about to attack.

"Stay away from me."

TBC


	5. Chapter 5

**Bunnylass – **I can really picture the group all getting drunk together, I think it'd be a lot of fun to watch lol. There's more Jack and Sam coming up in this story as well as John and Elizabeth. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Steph – **Thanks for the review, I'm glad you're liking all the characters and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Saphire – **I kind of want to see Teal'c all covered in pen too, I can totally picture Laura and Vala doing that. There's more Jack and Sam coming up in the story, thanks for the review.

**Sparkly – **Those girls annoy me and I'm the one writing them lol. I'm glad you liked the drunken scene and as for Cal, well, you'll see soon enough. I promise you'll get Sparky, lots of Sparky; it's all on its way. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Belanna30 – **I like Sam and Jack too and there'll be more of them coming up in this story along with Sparky. We'll learn a lot more about Elizabeth in this story including why she is the way she is. I hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks for the review

**Kuroima – **I'm glad you like the drawing scene and I may have to let Teal'c get his revenge for that lol. You'll find out more about Cal fairly soon, including what the scene with Kolya was all about, in the meantime I hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks for the review.

**Holly-Batali – **Thanks for the review, I plan to do quite a few stories in this series. I'm glad you enjoy it and thanks for the review.

* * *

Chapter 5

Professor Niya was well known for the... enthusiasm she taught her lessons with but she was more chipper today than usual. She'd had a cheerful smile on her face since the beginning of the lesson and she hadn't stayed still for more than a few seconds. She'd been wondering around the classroom alternating between sitting at her desk, sitting on it and walking between the rows of students.

"Now who can tell me what's special about this animal?" she questioned gesturing to the magical display, a large bird showing through the purple specks of light that were floating in mid air.

Teal'c raised his hand, as did a few other people in the classroom and Professor Niya pointed to him, still smiling. "Phoenix tears have healing properties."

"That's right Mr Murray," Niya said "The tears of a phoenix are full of magic, healing magic to be exact."

Teal'c made sure to take notes, abbreviating the rather long and cheerful explanation the professor went into. He glanced at the clock, only ten minutes to go and then he could get out of here, his next lesson was a free period so he could let his brain relax before history. He had to admit he rather liked history, though having it last lesson on a Monday did nothing to help its popularity with the rest of the class. The only worse times were first thing on a Monday and last thing on a Friday, no one had any energy to spare.

"Professor, may I go to the bathroom?" Vala questioned, raising her hand, the girl couldn't go an entire day without disrupting at least one of their lessons.

"There are only ten minutes of the lesson left Miss Malduran, I'm sure you can wait," Niya told her and Vala shook her head.

"No, I really need to go," Vala replied.

Niya sighed and rolled her eyes "Very well Miss Malduran, you may as well take your things with you as I'm sure you won't make it back before the end of the lesson."

"Probably not," Vala agreed with a smile and picked up her things, throwing them into her bag and leaving the classroom.

"That girl is going to drive us all mad," Cameron commented, leaning over to whisper to Ronon and Teal'c. "How she doesn't leave a trail of crazy people in her wake is beyond me."

"Maybe she has," Teal'c replied.

"Wait until parents week, if her parents are anything like her we can all kiss goodbye to our sanity," Ronon stated and everyone shuddered at the thought but Vala had to get her personality from somewhere and the parents would be a logical place to look.

"Thank God that's not until the end of the year," Cameron said "We all of have plenty of time to prepare ourselves."

* * *

Having spent fifteen minutes searching the sociology section of the library for the book her professor had recommended to help her with her homework Laura finally gave up. She walked down the three flights of stairs to the bottom floor and approached the librarian's desk. The plump middle aged woman giving her a small smile that seemed slightly forced but then this job could probably be somewhat tedious at times.

"Hi," Laura began, keeping her irritation out of her tone, it wasn't the woman's fault that she couldn't find the damn book and if she'd thought about it earlier she would have come and asked about it ages ago. "I've been trying to find 'An Outline of Society' for the last fifteen minutes, could you help me please?"

"One moment please," the woman replied walking away from Laura to the magical directory, a thick old looking book with a brown leather cover that was slightly worn in places. She stood in front of it and simply asked it about the title Laura was searching for, the large book opened, the pages turning by themselves, moving quickly until it came to a stop, words appearing on the blank page. The woman read the information which Laura couldn't make out from where she was standing.

"I'm sorry all copies of that book have already been checked out," the librarian told her as she walked back over.

"Well that's just perfect," Laura stated, she'd just wasted a good twenty minutes of her life that she would never get back.

"Hello Laura," Carson greeted as he moved to stand beside her handing the librarian two books. "I'd like to check these out please."

The woman nodded and gave another one of her small, semi forced smiles as she took the books from him and walked back over to the directory, informing it which books were being taken out and when they were due back. The directory made a note of it as the woman cast a spell on the two library books.

"You here for a reason or do you just like the library?" Carson questioned and Laura sighed.

"I came to get a book for sociology but they've al been checked out," Laura told him, remembering her annoyance at the situation.

The librarian handed Carson his books and he thanked her before the two of them left the library. Carson opened one of the books to the first page, the only blank one in the book but the date the book was due back was floating a few millimetres above the paper.

"Plenty of time," Carson said with a smile before closing the book and shoving both into his bag. "What book were you looking for?"

"An Outline of Society," Laura replied.

"I have it," Carson told her. "I checked it out yesterday, you can borrow it if you want, just let me know when."

"Don't you need it?" Laura questioned.

"Yeah but the assignment isn't due until next week, I'm sure that's gives us enough time for both of us to use the book," Carson explained and Laura nodded her head, at least coming to the library hadn't been a total waste of her afternoon.

"Thank you," she said and Carson shrugged.

"My pleasure."

* * *

Teyla had wanted to eat somewhere different for a change so they'd spent some time looking around town. They'd found a nice little restaurant that only served Dreylan food, the Dreylan were known for their spicy dishes and Ronon had agreed to be a little adventurous and try it. Neither of them had ever had Dreylan food before so they had no idea what to expect when they walked into the dimly little restaurant. It was decorated with reds and browns, crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling and heavy drapes framed all of the large windows. They were led to a table almost immediately by a young woman dressed in a black and red uniform, she gave them both a menu and left to attend to a group sitting in the corner.

"Well, the restaurant seems nice enough," Teyla commented but Ronon's attention was on the young man sitting a few tables behind Teyla, he looked slightly red and was currently downing a glass of water while his girlfriend tried not to laugh.

"Let's hope we can say the same about the food," Ronon replied as he started to look through the menu.

"How about we get a combo dish to share?" Teyla suggested and Ronon nodded his head in agreement. "What should we order, medium spicy, hot or extra hot?"

Ronon glanced at the man who was still recovering from whatever he'd eaten "Medium."

"Are you sure?" Teyla questioned with a frown. "Seems kind of pointless."

"Fine, hot," Ronon said, there was no way he was going extra hot.

"Okay," Teyla replied, putting the menu down on the table as the waitress came back to take their order.

"I'm thinking of locking John and Elizabeth in a room together, a small, cramped room, what do you think?" Teyla asked casually after the waitress had gone again.

"You're not thinking of playing matchmaker are you?" Ronon questioned despairing for his two unsuspecting friends especially since, knowing Teyla, she would eventually get Jack involved and having the two of them conspiring against you was never going to be fun.

"Why not, they just need a little push," Teyla sated and Ronon resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

"Don't you think they should figure it out for themselves," he said and Teyla sighed, leaning back in her chair with something close to sulking on her face now that her plan was ruined and Ronon wondered exactly how much time he'd bought John and Elizabeth, Teyla was nothing if not persistent.

"I guess so, they're just so infuriating," she replied.

Ten minutes later their food arrived, the large silver plate was placed in the centre of the table, full of various kinds of spicy food. Teyla smiled and grabbed the thing closest to her, some type of chicken coated in spicy sauce and with only a moment's hesitation she ate it, taking a deep breath after she swallowed.

"Now that's spicy," she stated taking a sip of her water "But really good."

Reluctantly Ronon picked something up from the plate, following Teyla's example he ate it, his mouth felt like it was on fire and he swallowed it quickly, taking a large drink of water.

"Wow," was all he could manage to say and Teyla grinned.

"We are so coming here again."

* * *

"I see your ten and raise you twenty," Marcus stated and then waited for a response from the rest of the group, Janet sighed and folded, Marcus had known she was bluffing anyway, she got this look of displeasure in her eyes when ever she lied, he knew she hated doing it. Laura of course saw the game through, she never gave anything away and Cal looked thoughtful for a moment until he too decided to see it through to the end.

"Alright, let's see them," he said and Cal put his cards down, a two pair, good but not great. Laura too put her cards down, a flush, even better. Marcus smiled placing his cards down and gesturing to the best possible hand in the game and collecting his winning from the middle of the table.

"Damn it," Laura exclaimed "I'm running out of chocolate chips."

"Too bad," Marcus replied eating some of his winnings and only noticing Janet's sneaky hand after she'd grabbed a handful of chocolate and eaten it. "Hey, those are mine."

Janet just shrugged and smiled leaving Marcus with no choice but to glare at her. "I've had enough of this game now anyway."

"Only cos you're losing," Marcus stated, he was rather enjoying himself, of course he was also winning by a very long way, the others hardly had any chocolate chips left at all.

Laura leaned back in her chair, "I hate Tuesdays," she announced suddenly.

"Why?" Cal questioned "I rather enjoy Tuesdays, got some good lessons today, I have spell casting and Defence this afternoon followed by another free period."

"Well unlike you," Laura began a slight note of bitterness in her voice that Cal had such a great afternoon to look forward to. "We have Phys Ed and Potions this afternoon, now normally I'm all for Phys Ed but having it right before a Potions lesson is harsh, as if you're not already tired enough from all the exercise they decide to give you the most sleep inducing teacher I've ever known for the following lesson."

"Yeah, that is kinda harsh," Cal replied "Glad I only have Potions with you."

Laura smacked him across the arm and Cal feigned hurt, rubbing at it and saying something about it leaving a bruise as Marcus looked at the clock. "We actually better get going," he stated "We have to be in World of Magic in five minutes."

"Yeah, I should hurry up and get to History too," Cal said as the groups stood up and gathered their things, Laura and Marcus fighting over the chocolate chips that were still all over the table. When they'd finally packed everything up they all but ran out of the cafeteria, already late for their lesson.

* * *

The rain was coming down hard, making the already slippy football pitch even more difficult to run across. The Atala Junior men's football team had been training for almost an hour, the rain had started coming down almost immediately and John cursed the lousy timing. Everyone else was inside the Assembly hall, warm and dry as they prepared for their events and they were stuck out here. It was purely all the running around that was keeping him from freezing but even that was beginning to lose its effect.

The team had split into two, one half against the other and both sides looking equally as tired and muddy. Jack kicked the ball to him and John only just managed to keep it from the other team's player that attempted to intercept it. He glanced around quickly as he ran with the ball toward their goal, it seemed like there were more red flags than yellow fluttering from people's waists which was typical since he was on the yellow team.

Ronon was heading his way, the red flag an indicator that they were on opposing teams and John made quick work of locating another member of his team, the third year standing close to the goal and he quickly passed the ball to him only a second before Ronon tackled him to the ground. The larger man's weight slammed into him, knocking the air from his lungs and sending them both crashing to the ground with an audible thud. The wet mud moved beneath his hands as he tried to push himself up, his hand slipping slightly but he managed to get himself stood up, ignoring the new mud stains he'd gained.

His attention was already back on the ball, the third year had apparently passed it to a second year student and he was now aiming for the goal. Lorne was on the other team, trying to reach him before he could score but the second year kicked the ball which sailed through the air and slipped narrowly passed the goal keeper. It connected with the back of the net as the team began cheering and patting the second year on the back.

"And that's it," their nominated referee shouted, looking at his watch and calling the game to an end.

John's team, the winning team by one point burst into cheering louder than when they'd scored, congratulating each other while the other team took a moment to sulk at the loss. John finally looked down at himself, mud coated most of his kit, his legs and arms were caked in the stuff and he could feel that the bottom layers had started drying on his skin. He could tell it was on his face and probably in his hair too, the mud making his skin feel stiff.

"Don't you look great," a familiar voice stated and John turned around to see Elizabeth and Teyla, both of them wearing their rain coats and carrying an umbrella. "Seriously, I don't think you could actually get more mud on you."

"Bet I could," John replied and Elizabeth smiled.

"Damn it, I don't have my camera," Teyla cursed with her evil smile as Jack came jogging over looking just as bad as John did.

"We won," Jack announced proudly.

"I see that," Teyla stated "Shame your gym kit had to suffer."

"Hey, I wear my mud stains with pride," Jack told them, grinning as he slapped John on the back, creating a wet sound that probably had something to do with the rain now running under his shirt and down his back. Now that he wasn't moving around as much the cold was beginning to really take affect.

"Well, we just came to see how you were doing, we'll meet you in the cafeteria," Teyla announced and she and Elizabeth left.

Once the celebration was over everyone headed inside, scrambling to get into the showers. The hot water felt great against his cold, dirty skin and behind him he could hear the other guys cracking jokes as someone was whipped across the butt with a towel.

TBC


	6. Chapter 6

**Saphire – **I'm definitely one of those people that want to lock John and Elizabeth into a room together. I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter, hope you enjoy this one too, thanks for the review.

**Steph – **Thanks for the review.

**Sparkly – **Lots of sparky, very soon, I promise. We'll learn more about some of the families in this story, Vala and Elizabeth included. I really do make sparky infuriating don't I lol.

**Belanna30 – **Your welcome for the answers, I'm glad you liked the last chapter; I'm trying to include all the characters as much as I can. I hope you enjoy this chapter too and thanks for the review.

**Bunnylass – **Vala is such a great character and I really enjoy writing her, she's a lot of fun. Lots of sugar for me too lol but I do like my spicy food as well. I'm enjoying creating the Cal character, how normal he is despite being up to something. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Kuroima – **Thanks, I'm glad you liked the last chapter. I support Teyla's plan too, if I could I'd help her with it lol. I promise sparky, lots of sparky in this story.

**Stargatecrazy – **Here's your update crazy, I'm glad you're enjoying the series lol and thanks for the review.

* * *

Chapter 6

Jack entered the library mourning the loss of his sleep, getting up two hours before lessons were due to begin felt like torture, especially knowing that his first lesson was Phys Ed. It was his own fault though, he shouldn't have left his homework until the last possible minute, if he hadn't he'd still be fast asleep in his nice warm bed. The library was virtually empty, only the morning librarian and two or three other students had been insane enough to be here at this time. He clutched the strap of his bag and made his way over to the stairs. He'd actually gotten fairly good at navigating his way through the library and he found the Phys Ed section with ease. He ran his finger along the spines of the books until he found the one he was looking for, pulling it off the shelf and heading back downstairs.

He spotted a familiar face, one of the other students insane enough to be here. He headed that way startling the blonde when he dropped his bag next to her. She looked up at him with genuine surprise at seeing him there before she smiled her greeting.

"I didn't think you were the type to leave your homework until the last minute," Jack stated as he sat down. "I've gotta say Sam, I'm very disappointed."

Sam smiled again and shook her head. "I haven't left any of my homework until the last minute thank you. I woke up early and couldn't get back to sleep so I decided to come here and get ahead with my Mythology assignment."

"Sensible as always," Jack replied getting his paper and pen from his bag and he wasn't entirely certain but he thought Sam pulled a face at him.

"What homework did you leave until the last minute anyway?" Sam asked mockingly and Jack stopped what he was doing to narrow his eyes at her.

"Phys Ed," he finally admitted. "I have to finish this essay on muscles."

"I finished that yesterday..." Sam began reaching into her bag as Jack cut her off.

"Goody two shoes," he muttered and that time he knew for sure she'd pulled a face at him as she laughed and took a folder from her bag.

"I was going to say you can take a look but you've got no chance now," she told him smiling.

"How about if I apologise really nicely?" Jack questioned and Sam looked thoughtful for a moment.

"I don't know, it depends how good your apology is," she stated and Jack was fairly sure she was actually flirting with him.

"Want me to get down on my knees and beg forgiveness?" he asked and she laughed, handing him the report as she shook her head.

"No thanks, I think that would be rather pitiful," she replied "And no copying."

Jack frowned "I'm hurt you think I'd do that," he said humorously. Sam smiled again as she refocused her attention on her assignment. Jack glanced at the clock, he'd already used up fifteen minutes of his morning and if he had any hope of getting this done before the lesson he should probably make a start on it. He read through Sam's essay, shaking his head at the amount of scientifically long names she'd used for the muscles and hoped he didn't have to remember every single one of them.

* * *

Professor Talarez was a tall man, taller than even Ronon, he had dark skin, even darker eyes and an enthusiasm for teaching that almost rivalled Professor Niya... almost. He walked around the classroom in between the rows of desks, congratulating the students that were completing their work successfully and offering help and encouragement to those who were struggling, not that this was a particularly difficult task.

"Don't forget to choose your charms with care, everyone of them symbolises something different, you could bring a lot of good to your life if you get it right," Talarez informed them for the third or fourth time. Somehow Kate doubted that her life would be changed much by a bracelet, nor did she think it would be a disaster if she put a faith charm on her bracelet instead of a luck one.

"Am I actually expected to wear this?" Daniel questioned, holding up the piece of string that now had several charms hanging from it. She didn't fail to notice that many of them were to do with gaining knowledge and wisdom.

"Not until after it's been graded," Kate replied "After that I'm sure they'll be the newest fashion."

"Charm bracelets have been around for centuries, if they've not stormed the fashion world by now then they're never going to," Carson stated, adding the charm for inner peace to his string and then 

holding it up for inspection. "I think this is just about done, any more charms and it'll weigh my arm down more than bring goodness to my life.

"Yeah, I think you might have over done it a little there," Kate said as she took the charm bracelet from him. "I don't really see the point of this, I don't even believe in charm bracelets."

"But you're holding one right there, how can you not believe in them?" Daniel questioned humorously and Kate decided he was spending too much time around certain members of their group, Jack to be specific. The man's sense of humour seemed to be rapidly spreading to the rest of the group, it didn't help that some of them had started out with a very similar sense of humour. John, Marcus and Cameron were almost as bad and when you put them with Jack things always got interesting.

"Oh ha ha," she responded "I mean, I don't believe in the power they're suppose to have. A few pieces of metal and plastic aren't going to bring any magical happiness in to your life. Their effects are all in your head, you believe they're going to have a great affect on your life so you perceive everything good that happens to be because of the charms even though it's your new mind set that brings about any changes."

"As much as that makes sense, it's kind of a boring way to look at it don't ye think?" Carson asked and Kate shrugged, she wasn't going to change her opinion because it was boring; it was logical and it made perfect sense.

"Just don't say that to Teyla," Daniel suggested "She loves her charm bracelet; I think she's had it for years."

"I wasn't planning on saying anything to her, if it makes her happier to believe in it then who am I to take it away from her," Kate stated and Daniel shrugged.

"You just thought you'd share your opinion with us, I was looking forward to my bracelet changing my life," Daniel joked just as Talarez came passed them, congratulating them all on a good job.

* * *

Jack opened the door to Beltry Towers, tired and aching after another football practice. The Atala junior boy's team was good and they were getting better, it was entirely possible that by the time the Guild competition rolled around they'd be good enough to actually have a shot at winning. John was about to step through the door in front of him when they were both distracted by a commotion outside, they turned to see Kolya and Laden staring down another student, a young girl Jack know to be a first year and probably smaller than Janet.

The girl had backed away from the intimidating pair until her back had hit the wall, now she had nowhere to go and Kolya and Laden seemed to have no intention of backing off. Jack sighed and followed John toward the group, wanting nothing more that to go lie down on his bed and sleep until tomorrow. It wasn't until they got closer that could hear what was going on, the young woman was dating another of the first years, a guy who'd apparently got Kolya in trouble for doing some minor magic outside of class. Kolya had of course been punished, he'd spent several hours of his week in detention since it was only his first warning, the second one came with a type of community service like cleaning out the bathroom without magical aid.

"Alright Kolya, Laden, back off," John said, announcing their presence and the girl gave them a grateful look of relief.

"This is none of your business Sheppard, nor yours O'Neill, it's you two that need to back off," Kolya replied saying their names with venom and annoyance.

"It's not the girl's either, you have issues with someone then take it up with them, not their girlfriends," Jack suggested and then looked at the girl. "Come on," he said and the girl ran toward him, thanking him as she ran passed.

"More fun to hit people where it really hurts, loved ones are a good place to start," Kolya stated and Jack felt a revulsion for the man that he usually reserved for the worst of society, though, he mused, Kolya was on the right track to be exactly that some day. He barely knew the man but it was obvious that he was never going to be a nice person and his family's fascination with dark magic wasn't exactly a secret. Genii wasn't a county you wanted to be on the bad side of, neither were the Governing family.

"Here's an idea Kolya, radical as it may seem," John began "Try following a rule every now and again, gets you into less trouble and you won't have as many people to get revenge on, all that vengeful plotting must get awfully tiring."

Kolya glared at John, looking about ready to pounce on him and kill him but John wasn't fazed, he stared Kolya down until Jack decided to cut in. "As much fun as this staring competition is, especially for us spectators," he began sarcastically. "I'm tired and I can hear my bed calling for me from all the way down here which reminds me of the numerous flights of stairs I have yet to climb."

John being the bigger man ended the staring match and turned his back on Kolya who started muttering something to Laden, Jack really didn't care what. He would never have let Kolya hurt that girl but he really, really just wanted his bed, his nice warm comfortable bed that he didn't plan to leave for several hours baring a natural disaster and even then he was gonna need some convincing.

"I really don't like that guy," John stated as they entered the Towers and made their way up the stairs.

"Me either, he's bad news, it's amazing he doesn't get caught more often," Jack replied thinking about all the times he'd seen Kolya doing something or other that could probably get him expelled, intimidating another student, a girl no less, into a corner was probably one of them.

"Students don't tell teachers just like we won't tell anyone what just happened because even if we did the school never reacts to anything without proof or one of the teachers seeing it themselves, Mathos being a perfect example," John explained. Jack had to admit he was right, they weren't going to talk to a teacher about what happened and even if they did nothing would happen, Kolya would still get away with it, especially given the amount of influence his family had over all of Atlantis.

"Well on that positive note, I'm going to bed, night," Jack called as they reached John's door and Jack continued down the corridor to his own room.

* * *

"John give me it back," Elizabeth ordered but John smiled and held the book above his head and out of Elizabeth's reach. All she really had to do was stand up and she'd get it but she wasn't going to do that and even if she did he'd simply stand up with her and the book would remain out of her reach.

"You spend far too much time with your nose in these things. I think we should have a nice conversation, no books allowed. In fact I dare you to go the rest of the week without reading," he challenged and Elizabeth raised her eyebrow at him.

"You know if I was five years old that might work," she stated and made another grab for the book bringing one of her knees to the chair for added height. John moved his arm back so the move failed. "Give me the book," she ordered.

"Or what?" John questioned.

"Or I'll kick your ass, give it to me," she replied, making another unsuccessful attempt on the book, this one a bit more forceful and ignoring the strange looks they were getting from the other students in the cafeteria.

John frowned for a moment not used to hearing Elizabeth talk like that before he smirked and moved the book slightly further back when he saw her eyeing it, her gaze thoughtful as though she was planning her next attack. "Did you just say ass?" he questioned. "It's a good thing the others aren't here; their whole opinion of you could have changed."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes and then caught him by surprise again when she lunged for the book. She practically jumped on him, her hand going for the book as her knee landed in his lap. It wasn't quite enough to balance her and John released the book without the resistance he would usually have put up, his hands going to her waist instead to keep her from falling. Elizabeth looked down at him, her eyes meeting his and John couldn't bring himself to look away, apparently neither could she.

"If you wanted it that badly you should have just asked," John joked after several moments, smiling and breaking whatever spell had been cast over them. Elizabeth glared at him and moved back to her own chair just in time, Jack and Teyla walked in with Ronon, Vala and Janet in tow. The five of them chatting about something, their faces serious, even Jack's.

"What's going on?" Elizabeth asked obviously having picked up on the same thing.

"You haven't heard?" Jack questioned as everyone took their seats at the table.

"Why don't you tell us and we can tell you if we've heard," John replied, his curiosity peaked by the serious tone in Jack's voice.

"A fourth year was expelled this morning," Ronon told them, John and Elizabeth both looked back at him in shock. Expulsions were almost unheard of at Pegasus, the school preferred to deal with matters differently, giving second, third, even fourth or fifth chances depending on what the student had done, they didn't like giving up on students.

"Why?" John finally managed to ask.

"We're not sure yet," Jack answered "But there's a lot of talk about drugs."

"I heard they were having trouble with drugs at hive," Elizabeth stated which was really no surprise. Hive Magic school was well known for the amount of 'bad students' that went through it, it was as through the school board picked out as much of the unscrupulous students as they could accept in some vein effort to help make them into better people. Three of the most famous criminals of the last hundred years had attended Hive Magic School in their youth, two men and a woman, all on their killing sprees at separate times and all of them using dark magic to torture and kill their victims.

"Abydos expelled two students last week for possession, they're taking a zero tolerance approach and it looks like Pegasus is doing the same," Janet added shaking her head.

"Why the sudden rise in drug use?" Elizabeth questioned.

"It's some new drug," Janet stated disgust in her voice. "I heard my father talking about it over Christmas, supposedly it causes one hell of a euphoria but the aftermath is pretty nasty. Suppliers are all over it, the thing's spread all over Atlantis like a wildfire."

"Great, why don't we change the subject to something less depressing?" Vala suggested and Jack clapped his hands together with a grin.

"Anyone know if they're serving cake today?"

TBC


	7. Chapter 7

**Stargatecrazy – **You know I'm just gonna write Crazy from now on, I'm lazy like that lol. I'm glad you liked the Sam and Jack scene and the sparky bit, there's a lot more of that coming up. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Bunnylass – **Thanks for the review, Sam and Jack is one of my favourite couples too and I'm glad you liked their scene in the last chapter. I want to go to Pegasus too, damn my imagination for creating it. I'm rally glad you liked the John and Elizabeth so much, I really liked writing that one, I've been driving myself crazy dragging their story out so it's nice to finally be able to write it. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Steph – **I really enjoyed writing Kate in that scene, good to know it came out well. The sparky scene was my favourite in the last chapter too lol, go figure, thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Sparkly – **Kolya is such a great bad guy, it has very few morals which makes him so much fun to write, he'll just keep sinking lower. I'm glad you liked the sparky scene and the drug thing is going to be a really big part of this story. I hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks for the review.

**Holly-Batali – **The drug isn't the wraith enzyme thing though that would have been interesting too lol. I'm glad you liked the sparky scene and the Kolya scene; he makes such a great bad guy, thanks for the review.

**Saphire – **I'm glad you liked the charm bracelet scene; Kate was really fun to write there, she's such a psychologist lol. I'm glad you liked the Sam and Jack scene and of course the sparky scene, it was great to finally be able to write it. I'm not telling you anything about Cal, you'll have to find out about him as the story goes along lol, and there's a lot to learn about him, thanks for the review.

**Belanna30 – **After dragging out the John and Elizabeth storyline so much it's great to finally be writing them, that moment in the cafeteria was definitely one of my favourite scenes in the series so far and you're right, there's plenty more to come. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Jammeke – **There will be plenty of Kolya throughout the series, he's a great bad guy and I can never resist writing him lol. I'm all for locking John and Elizabeth in a very small room until they figure it out but unfortunately that would ruin all the plans I have for them in this story. Thanks for the review.

**Kuroima – **I'm just gonna write Kuro from now on lol, I do everywhere else lol. Don't worry Sam and Jack won't take as long as Sparky lol, I don't think I could put myself through that again never mind the rest of you lol. Speaking of sparky, that scene was a lot of fun to write and I'm really glad you liked it, see it was worth the wait lol, thanks for the review.

**Sparkly Goodness – **I hate it when my computers break lol, I never know how I survive lol. Thanks for the review, I'm glad you're enjoying the story and I hope you enjoy this chapter too.

* * *

Chapter 7

The shower had done very little to wake him up, he still felt like he was about to fall asleep even as he left his dorm room. His bag felt like it weighed twice as much as usual, his shoulder was protesting at having to carry it. He'd known helping the guys train was a bad idea but being the nice guy he was he had gotten dragged into it along with Cameron, Cal and Teal'c. The other three hadn't minded so much but Carson preferred much more relaxing hobbies, like fishing. Helping Jack, John, Ronon and Marcus train for the Atala Junior football team wasn't going to be fun at the best of times but why they'd had to pick yesterday when it was cold and raining was beyond him.

Ignoring the ache in his shoulder Carson adjusted the strap of his bag and headed for the stairs. Marcus was just entering the stairwell from the floor below him with Cal, a bruise on Marcus's left cheek from a bad tackle by Teal'c.

"Hey Carson," Marcus greeted as the three of them made their way down the stairs "Still sore?"

"I'm never helping you guys train ever again," Carson replied tiredly. "It's not worth it, I'd rather we lost."

"Well that's not very team spirited of you," Marcus stated "If we lose now I'm blaming you."

"Just don't tell anyone I helped you, if the rest of my guild find out I aided the enemy they might hang me for treason," Cal joked and Marcus clapped him on the back as they left the dorm building.

"Don't worry, your secret's safe with us... unless we need any leverage at some point," Marcus laughed and Cal narrowed his eyes.

"You wouldn't," he stated though there was a hint of uncertainty and a question in his voice.

"Maybe, maybe not," Marcus replied.

"Damn," Cal cursed suddenly. "I forgot something; I'll catch up with you guys later."

Cal turned around and ran back to the dorm quickly disappearing inside; Marcus shrugged and then looked at Carson taking in his slightly dishevelled appearance. "You really look like hell Carson," he stated humorously.

"You don't look all that great yourself," Carson told him pointing to the bluish bruise on his friend's cheek. "Besides, I feel like hell so it's to be expected."

"Sorry Carson, it was either you or Rodney and I think Rodney would make a better cheerleader," Marcus said and Carson frowned as Marcus made a face at what he'd just said. "On second thought no, no he wouldn't. He's not a very... cheer inspiring person. We could probably recruit him to stand on the side lines and shout insults at the other team to make the feel like crap, now that he could do."

"Yeah, he'd probably do a good job of it too, demoralise the enemy, I can see that working," Carson laughed. The two of them entered the cafeteria and quickly spotted the rest of their friends, Rodney was calling someone an idiot after answering an apparently very simple question wrong.

"See he's already practicing," Marcus said with a grin.

* * *

"See you later guys," Sam called as she, Daniel and Janet left the cafeteria. The three of them headed for the library to get copies of the new General Magic text books that had arrived, the library had only 150 of them to sell and the rest would remain library property. They'd barely left the cafeteria when someone yelled her name and Sam grimaced inwardly at the sound of the familiar voice. She turned around, forcing her face into a neutral expression. The man approaching her was a senior, fourth year, with light brown hair and brown eyes, nothing like Sam.

"Mark," she greeted her brother wondering why after five months he had chosen to talk to her in school. They'd barely even spoken over Christmas and Mark had been avoiding her since she'd first started at Pegasus.

"Dad sent me this," he told her simply handing her an envelope. "He's in meetings all week and didn't have time to write two separate letters so he wrote to us both in one."

Sam took the letter from him and tucked it not her pocket before looking back at Mark. "Are you going to reply or do you want me to d it for you?"

"I'll reply if I have the time," Mark stated and Sam swallowed back her annoyance. She hated having to play 'go between' for Mark and their father, more than that she hated what her family had become. They used to be very close even with their father's busy job; after their mother had died everything had changed. Mark blamed their father, their relationship was almost non existent and Sam had no doubt that her brother would all but sever his ties to the family once he'd finished Pegasus. Sam being just like her father had quickly joined Mark's list of people to avoid, he didn't like her choice of career, she wanted to be in the Protectorate's Guild and do some good in Atlantis, Mark didn't appreciate that, being somewhat of a pacifist he couldn't, wouldn't even try.

"It takes a couple minutes to write 'Hi, I'm fine, how are you?' on a piece of paper and stick it in an envelope," Sam told him knowing full well that Mark had no intention of replying to their father's letter, he just told her what she wanted to hear to avoid any conflict and get away from her as quickly as possible. "I'm sure you can make the time."

"Like I said, if I have the time I'll reply," Mark stated and Sam shook her head, exasperation and annoyance in the gesture.

"No you won't and don't lie to me," she replied angrily, glancing at Daniel and Janet who were pointedly looking elsewhere, giving her some privacy.

"Whether I reply or not is none of your business," Mark said looking at her two friends as though he'd only just remembered they were there. "Daniel," he acknowledged and gave Janet a curt nod before he walked away.

"You alright?" Daniel questioned after a moment.

Sam nodded her head "I could do with beating something up, I guess the students who try to get in my way in the library will have to do, come on," she replied and Janet smiled and linked arms with her.

"I have it on good authority that half the junior students in the school want to get their hands on these text books, there'll be plenty of pushy people there," she stated with a grin "Plenty of people to get in your way."

* * *

"This issue wasn't covered by the ethical code until fifteen years ago; using magic to aid in an interrogation was perfectly acceptable until then. Does anyone here know what changed that?" Professor Colbrun asked half the class weren't even paying attention and it seemed the other half didn't have a clue; only two hands went up, including Elizabeth's.

"Miss Weir," Colbrun said, gesturing to her.

"Kyle Alders," Elizabeth stated simply and Colbrun nodded his head with a small smile before continuing to explain.

"Alders was suspected of being involved with a gang in Alteran city, this was a particularly vicious gang, they'd killed over a hundred people by this point in and around the capital. The police there were desperate to put a stop to it and the Protectorate's Guild had gotten involved as well. They received information that linked Alder's to the gang; they arrested him and tortured him for days, applying magic to make him talk faster. After two months they learned that Alder's was innocent, they released him but Alders died three days little from the trauma his mind and body had been put through," Colbrun explained and Elizabeth made detailed notes as fast as she could, keeping up with Colbrun and allowing John to copy whatever he'd missed.

"The media was all over it and the public were livid, Alder's family held several demonstrations and the Alteran council were forced to intercept. They convened within a week and amended the Ethical code to include the issue of Magic and torture, several members of the police and Protectorate's guild were forced to retire for their involvement in it," Colbrun told the class. He picked up a stack of papers from his desk, walking around the class and handing them out to the students. Elizabeth took one looking through the papers that had been stuck together with a staple in the corner.

"Wow, that's a lot of fancy words," Jack stated as he too read through what he'd been given.

"That it is Mr O'Neill," Colbrun said with a smile as he returned to the front of the class and put the remaining papers back on his desk; probably to hand out to another of the first year class later. "It's the section of the Ethical code that deals with Magic and torture. It's also your homework."

A collective groan went through the class and Colbrun chuckled "I know, I know but it's your final Magical Ethics assignment this year," Colbrun continued. "It's also one of the most important since it contributes to your year 1 grade, it's worth 10 percent of your final grade which you all know can make a big difference. Your assignment is to study this section of the code, give your interpretation on it and your opinion. What parts of it do you agree and disagree with, make sure you give reasons. "It's due in one month so you have plenty of time but I'm expecting some impressive projects to be coming in."

"Great, more time consuming homework," John muttered under his breath rolling his pen back and forth across the table. Elizabeth elbowed him gently, he turned and narrowed his eyes at her and she smiled.

"Pay attention," she whispered and then cursed inwardly having missed whatever Colbrun had just said, she'd just have to ask Teyla later.

"Alright, that's it for today," Colbrun began the class starting to pack up before the words 'Class dismissed' were even out of his mouth.

* * *

It was nice to get away from the guys for a few hours, some quality girl time had definitely been in order after an entire day filled with thumb wars, the guys suddenly had a new fascination with the game. All the girls had decided to leave the boys back at the school to do some male free shopping. They'd already been at it for an hour, there were several shopping bags to carry back to the school and they weren't even done yet.

"The guys would have complained all the time if we'd brought them along," Teyla stated as the group took a break in one of the many cafes in the shopping district. The town might have been small – at least when compared to other towns – but it was a student town which meant it was filled with clubs, cafe's and shops. "I'm sure they'll find something to entertain themselves with."

"Like more thumb wars," Laura replied with a smirk "Seriously if I get challenged one more time I'm just gonna hit them."

"They know we can't back down from a challenge," Janet laughed and the others nodded and murmured their agreement.

Vala stood up, grabbing the numerous shopping bags around her feet expertly. "Well come on girl's, we've only got a couple of hours before it starts to get dark, let's make the most of it."

The future Governess of Earleth had once again proven her ruthless shopping abilities; she'd dragged the girls from one store to another before everyone could even exit the one they'd just been in. She'd been reluctant to allow them a break and after agreeing to half an hour so that everyone could eat she'd been keeping an eye on her watch. Only Teyla seemed relatively unbothered by it, she was the only one with a shopping addiction to rival Vala's but the rest of them were gonna be sore in the morning.

Everyone picked up their stuff and followed Vala to the next clothes store, the girls immediately scattered in various directions, Elizabeth being dragged along by Teyla as Vala got hold of Laura and Kate, only Sam and Janet had remained free to shop at their own pace. The two of them routed through the clothes racks, picking up several things to try on and wincing in pity at Laura and Kate who already had half the shop in their hands as Vala ushered them toward the dressing rooms.

"Come on, you two," Teyla shouted as she pulled a resigned Elizabeth into the changing area and Janet rolled her eyes as she headed that way with Sam.

The dressing room was large, there were several wooden cubicles lined up across one wall, a red curtain hanging in front of each for privacy. There were a few couches in the room and mirrors scattered across the walls. Janet picked the nearest empty dressing room and went inside pulling the curtain closed and changing into the jeans and green shirt she'd picked up. She looked at herself in the mirror, deciding she liked the jeans but not the shirt. She was about to change out of it when she heard giggling and whistling outside and pulled the curtain open, sticking her head out to see the other girls.

"Look at you," Vala said cheerily as she took in Kate's appearance. Vala had made the young woman try on a short dress, a very short dress. The light blue fabric came down to her thighs and hung to the curves of her figure perfectly.

"Wow, you look great," Teyla stated as she came out of her changing room wearing a new skirt and top. "You should definitely get it, you can wear it next time we hit the clubs."

"I told you I have great taste," Vala said smugly and grinned when Teyla nodded her head.

"That you do," she agreed and then turned around "Elizabeth, are you going to come out or do I have to come in there and drag you?"

"I'm coming, I'm coming," Elizabeth replied as she walked out of her cubicle and Janet smiled. It seemed Vala was not the only one with good taste; Teyla had picked out a fantastic dress for Elizabeth, nothing like what she would usually wear. The red dress was tight, hugging her figure all the way down to where it ended at her thighs, the fabric was ruffled and the thin straps revealed a little more cleavage than usual, not much but enough.

There was a wolf whistle from near Kate as Laura joined the group and Sam grinned as she showed up. "Let me guess, Teyla picked it."

"She's going to have all the boys stood there with their jaws dropped," Teyla stated and Janet got the impression that Teyla had a certain guy in mind. Elizabeth looked distinctly uncomfortable but Janet knew she'd get used to the dress once she was out enjoying herself.

"Okay so Kate's and Elizabeth's dresses are on the must buy list," Vala announced, "Now everyone back in your changing rooms and finish trying on our clothes, we've got more stores to go to and we don't all have sexy new clothes yet."

* * *

He'd almost believed she'd given up on him, moved on to some other victim and would leave him alone... almost. He hadn't heard from her since before Christmas and apart from the solid gold, miniature statue of two of the ancient Gods he'd received as a Christmas present he hadn't heard from her either. The symbolism of the statue hadn't been lost on him either, Aria and Tyrus, two of the Gods his ancestors had probably believed in, there were still a few people today who believed in them. The story went that Aria and Tyrus had been destined to be together, Aria accepted it and her love for Tyrus but he resisted it. For many years he fought against his feeling for Aria, denying them 

even to himself until eventually the truth of his love for her could no longer be denied. Chaya was nothing if not persistent and unfortunately she was pretty clever too, everything she did had a reason behind it.

John forced a polite smile as Chaya reached him, he was sure it looked more like a grimace but if it did she didn't seem to notice. "Hey John, did you have a good Christmas?"

"Yeah, it was great," John replied "You?"

"Oh it was wonderful, I got lots of wonderful gifts, speaking of which, did you get the one I sent you?" she questioned and John nodded. "What did you think?"

John thought for a moment, trying to figure out what to say without lying to her "It was... very heavy."

"Solid gold dear," she replied as if it needed to be explained. "I picked it out very carefully, it just seemed so fitting."

"Oh you know I love history, the ancient Gods fascinate me," he lied deciding to play dumb and Chaya frowned at him for a moment as though he really was dumb, he was sure she gave him a look of pity too but he was willing to let that slide if it got her to go away faster.

"No John dear, that's not what I meant but never mind," she said and put a hand on his arm, John's fake smile faded quickly as he looked at it and he knew what was coming next. "Now, why don't we have dinner this week, I could even explain the statue to you then?"

"Actually I have plans all week, lots of homework and lot's of studying to do, very, very busy," John replied quickly and Chaya frowned again but then shook it off and smiled at him, that seductive smile that she assumed always worked but it actually made his skin crawl.

"Maybe another time then," she said and John was ready to tell her no but she didn't give him the chance, instead she just smiled again and walked away. John groaned in frustration and then carried on walking back to the dorms.

TBC


	8. Chapter 8

**Sparkly – **I'm glad you liked the cheerleader line in the last chapter; I think Rodney would make a great demoraliser lol. Of course Chaya will bring you some sparky but not for a while yet lol, thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Belanna30 – **The dresses could definitely be the lead up to another night on the town. Chaya does need a good smack in this story unfortunately I have big plans for her so that will have to wait. I have plans for valentines day to, , It's coming up soon in this fic, thanks for the review.

**Steph – **I miss SG1 too lol, especially the older episodes with Janet and Jack in them. There will be Daniel and Janet in this story but not yet, I have enough ship building with sparky and Jack and Sam at the moment lol. I actually really enjoy coming up with all the history for this world, creating a universe if fun. I hate Chaya too but I have lots of plans for her so she'll be around being annoying for a while yet. Thanks for the review.

**Bunnylass – **Carson doesn't strike me as the sporty type either but the poor guy isn't the type to say no either lol. There will be more of Sam and Mark as the story goes on, lots of confrontations. Shopping with Vala and Teyla really would be an experience but I think once would be more than enough. I'm actually looking forward to writing John seeing Elizabeth in that dress lol. Thanks for the review; I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Jammeke – **Oh there will definitely be friction between Elizabeth and Chaya, lots and lots of friction, the woman isn't the type to give up on something she wants no matter what. I hope you enjoy the chapter and thanks for the review.

**Crazy – **Chaya is a rather persistent woman, not the type to give up. The look on John's face when Elizabeth wears hat dress should be priceless, makes me wish I could photograph my thoughts lol. Thanks for the review.

**Saphire – **I'm not giving anything away about Cal lol; you'll have to figure it out. Of course Teyla picked out Elizabeth's dress for John; I think she'd enjoying playing matchmaker a little too much. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

* * *

Chapter 8

If Sam and Rodney were actually paying any attention to the history teacher they weren't showing any signs of it. The two of them were bickering in whispers about whose fault it was that Rodney had spilt coffee all over his history assignment that morning and ended up having to hand it in that way. The teacher sent them a mildly chastising look but neither of them paid attention to it.

"It's not my fault you're clumsy," Sam whispered and Radek wondered how well it would go down if he told them both to shut up.

"I am not clumsy," Rodney protested through gritted teeth. "You knocked me."

"I never touched you, you jumped when Ronon dropped his bag on the table right next to you," Sam replied, clearly getting as exasperated with the whole thing as Radek was.

"That bag was heavy, the thud was very loud and I hadn't seen him coming," Rodney defended himself before returning to the argument. "And it doesn't change the fact that you knocked me."

"I didn't..." Sam began to argue but the teacher cut her off.

"Miss Carter, Mr McKay, could the two of you continue this argument in your own time and not waste everyone else's," he told them, his voice loud and annoyed and Radek was grateful when both Rodney and Sam looked sufficiently chastised, enough to shut them up for a little while.

The professor continued his lecture on the Etarian independence war and Radek tried his best to make notes with Rodney reading over his shoulder trying to catch up on what he'd missed. Sam was just making notes on the new stuff, probably intending to borrow Radek's notes later on for the stuff that had been said while she'd been arguing. Rodney was probably the only person that could break her concentration, the man infuriated her to no end and Radek sympathised with her, Rodney could be arrogant and annoying without even trying. He'd gladly lend her the notes; she wasn't the only one who missed stuff trying to argue with Rodney.

"Who can tell me the rebellion leader's name, I mentioned it earlier?" the professor questioned looking around the class and settling his gaze on Rodney who was still too busy trying to read Radek's notes. "Mr McKay."

"Hmmm, what?" Rodney questioned looking up with a lost expression and obviously not knowing what the question had been never mind the answer to it. Radek nudged Rodney's arm and tapped his pen on the paper where the leader's name had been written during his friend's argument. Rodney glanced down and saw the answer looking back at the teacher slowly. "General Tallow."

"That's right," the professor replied and turned his attention back to the class. Rodney was slightly red from embarrassment and ducked his head down, making notes and paying attention in case another question got thrown at him.

"Thanks," Rodney said quickly, quietly and Radek smiled and shook his head.

* * *

Cal grabbed his bag as he left his room swinging it over his shoulder and heading for the stairs. He moved slowly, it was the middle of the night, most students were probably tucked up in their beds asleep but Guard patrol wouldn't be. The last thing he needed was to get caught by them; the school had increased the number of guards watching over the school at night in the last few weeks, if he was careless he'd get caught. Fortunately this wasn't the first time he done this, he was getting good at it now; the patrols were easy enough to avoid if you knew what you were doing, if you were careful.

Footsteps alerted him to the guard on the stairs probably doing his routine check; no one was placed permanently on any of the staircases. He closed the door to the stairwell, he was only on the fourth floor, the guard would probably check up to the fifth floor, leaving the rest for someone on the upper floors, before going back to wherever he usually was. The guard patrol was predictable; working in pairs they each patrolled a small area, occasionally separating to check the uncovered areas.

Cal watched through the small glass window on the door, keeping back and out of sight as the guard went by with his torch in hand, using it to see better in the dim lighting since most of the lights in the middle were off or dimmed. Less than a minute later the man walked back again passing by the window and Cal waited a moment before slowly opening the door. He approached the stairs stopping by the railing to see the guard reach the bottom, the footsteps disappeared and Cal headed down.

He made it out of the building, there were two men patrolling to the left, their torch lights visible through the dark. There were more patrols to his right too, he couldn't see them but he could hear their footsteps and voices heading toward him. He moved forward toward the cafeteria picking up the pace when more guards showed up. He made it around the corner just in time barely avoiding the guard's flashlights.

He was already late but that wasn't really a concern, the girl would stay there as long as she had to, there was no need rush. He managed to get passed the cafeteria unnoticed, all he had to do was get around the main building, he always went the further distance to meet these people, he was better at sneaking around than they were. If they got caught he had no guarantee that they wouldn't point the finger at him, most of them were smart enough to keep their mouths shut but caution was key here, it always was.

* * *

"I think it would be a really good idea," Teyla stated her voice low and conspiratorial; Jack looked thoughtful for a moment, considering the idea.

"I don't know Teyla, it could backfire," he replied. "Locking them in a small room where they realise their love for each other sound kinda cliché, I'm not sure it'll actually work."

"Well we have to do something," Teyla said in frustration and Jack shrugged.

"Let them figure it out in their own time," Jack told her, as frustrating as John and Elizabeth could be he was fairly sure that interfering wouldn't help either of them. Elizabeth had probably been the most closed off person he'd ever met when they first started at Pegasus, she'd come out of her shell on her own though and he didn't want to risk undoing that, he knew Teyla wouldn't either.

"I could have gone grey from the stress by then," Teyla stated and then proceeded to sulk as Ronon slipped into the chair next to her, putting his tray of food on the table and sliding his bag underneath.

"Is she trying to conspire against Elizabeth and John again?" Ronon questioned and Jack nodded his head as he ate his burger. "I thought we agreed that was a bad idea?"

Teyla shrugged "There's only so much frustration a girl can take."

"Heads up, they're coming," Jack said and both Ronon and Teyla went quiet, looking up to see John and Elizabeth walking through the door, both of them were laughing at something and Jack could hear Teyla mumbling under her breath.

"Hey guys, have you heard about Professor Niya?" John questioned as he sat down.

"No what?" Ronon asked.

"Apparently she left on some expedition a couple of days ago, which explains why she hasn't been in lessons, to find an ancient magical plant, she's already on her way back," John explained. "From what I've heard she found the plant, she fell into a bush of them only to discover they have toxins in them. She's supposedly covered in weird rashes but she's still bouncing round as excited as ever, I heard one of the teachers say she's been playing dot to dot with the rashes on herself."

"Now there's an interesting mental image," Jack replied with a smirk at the picture of Professor Niya, bouncing around in one of her colourful outfits, her skin covered in red marks that were joined together with black ink to make all manner of shapes and pictures.

"I don't know how the woman is always so...chipper," Ronon stated and John shook his head.

"She loves her job, I suppose that helps," he said, leaning back in his chair with a heavy sigh. "Why can't I love school as much as she does, it would make being here far less draining?"

"You know I think we all need a night out," Teyla announced "This weekend and everybody has to go unless they have a very compelling reason not to."

"Well I'm up for it, Cal still owes us all drinks anyway," Jack replied, John and Ronon both nodded their heads to show their agreement and Elizabeth opened her mouth to respond, not doubt to tell them she wasn't going for some reason.

"You're going," Teyla cut her off "Whatever excuse you have a deem it not compelling enough."

"It's really unpleasant to feel like someone else is in control of your life," Elizabeth told them and Teyla smiled innocently and shrugged.

"You're lucky I'm not in _complete_ control of your life, I have big plans for you," Teyla stated meaningfully and Jack gently kicked her under the table. Teyla did a good job of not glaring at him as Elizabeth narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

* * *

"It's far too early for this," Teyla complained as she snuggled deeper into her Phys Ed Jumper, it was obviously a size too big for her but she always said it helped to keep her warm. However there was only so much the dark blue fabric could do against the weather and this morning was abysmally cold. Elizabeth wrapped her arms around herself in an effort to fight off the shivers as the two coaches came out of the Gym building.

"Alright, as you may have guessed we're teaching guys and girls together today, now it's absolutely freezing so we won't keep you standing around for long. All of you do two laps around the track and then meet back here, off you go," Greyler shouted and everyone took off quickly, for once nobody complained about the unfair amount of physical activity on a Thursday morning, the movement would help keep them warm.

Teyla and Elizabeth ran at a steady pace along with Jack and John, a few of the show offs had run ahead, they were only three quarters of the way around their first lap by the time they started to run out of steam and the rest of the class was able to catch up with them.

"Why can't they just teach us inside?" Jack questioned as they finished their first lap causing the cloud of mist that came out of his mouth with every breath to get bigger.

"We're doing long jump and Javelin today, they're outside sports," Teyla replied as she nodded her head, gesturing to where Holman and Greyler were sorting out the equipment.

"And we couldn't just do swimming or wrestling or something that would have allowed us to stay inside?" John asked and Teyla shrugged. Elizabeth started to feel a nagging pain in her side, the beginnings of a stitch developing and she fell back slightly behind the others, focusing on her breathing instead of the cold and the conversation. John fell back with her leaving Jack and Teyla to carry on ahead, both of them discussing the unfairness of the situation.

"You alright?" John breathed and Elizabeth nodded her head.

"Stitch," she replied a little breathlessly glad that she was almost done with the run.

"Want me to carry you?" he joked and Elizabeth laughed.

"No that's alright, I wouldn't want you to strain yourself," she said and John narrowed his eyes at her making her laugh again and she clutched the growing pain in her side. Up ahead Jack and Teyla had finished their run and were both stretching out their muscles, trying to keep moving so that they wouldn't get cold again. Elizabeth breathed a sigh of relief as she crossed the finish line and she let herself drop to the grass intent on laying there until the coaches were ready to do whatever else they planned to torture her with. Teyla was right, it really was too early for this, she usually wasn't so bothered by having Phys Ed first lesson but this morning she was cold as well as tired.

"Oh no you don't," John said as he stood over her and she raised an eyebrow at him. "You gotta keep moving, you can't just stop like that, besides you'll freeze."

Elizabeth groaned as he held his hands out for her, she grudgingly accepted them and allowed him to pull her to her feet so she was standing face to face with him. It took her a moment to move and she joined Jack and Teyla, stretching out her muscles and hoping the lesson would end soon. She had potions next and even that was preferable to this.

* * *

Ronon headed to the cafeteria for a late lunch along with the rest of the freshman Atala's, they'd had to attend a quick guild meeting to inform everyone that one of the seniors was injured earlier in the week and would not be able to take part in the guild competition later in the year. There'd been some discussion among the seniors as to who would take his place in his events, the juniors hadn't really needed to be there; it was more for informative purposes than anything else. Now that they'd lost half an hour of their lunch hour they were wasting no time in heading to the cafeteria.

"Atala's," someone shouted and it took a moment for Ronon to realise they were talking to them. He turned around, stopping along with the rest of the group to see the First year Corlith guild members approaching. "We heard one of your seniors was injured, too bad you barely had a chance as it was."

"Oh please, I've seen your football team practicing, I just hope you're gonna do better in the other events or we're gonna win this thing easy," Lorne replied and the cocky Corlith stepped forward ready for a fight until a hand grabbed his shoulder.

"If anyone gets to beat the crap out of one of these guys it's gonna be me," Kolya said as he stepped forward looking over the Atala's with disgust and hate. "They've all been sticking their noses into my business since we started here."

"Well if you're business didn't involve bullying other students maybe we wouldn't have to stick our noses into it," Ronon told him and Kolya attempted to square up to him. The smaller man didn't seem particularly intimidated by Ronon's larger frame but still, anyone watching would know who the victor would be should there actually be a fight.

"Back off big guy, we outnumber you," another of the Corliths stated as he moved to Kolya's side. The man was tall, maybe only an inch shorter than Ronon and almost as much muscle, the only first year Corlith to make it one the junior wrestling team and someone Ronon was pretty likely to face off against in the competition.

"Not if I step in," Teal'c said as he appeared at Ronon's side, the two men creating a pretty intimidating sight.

"And of course we wouldn't want them to have all the fun," Jack added gesturing to himself and the others.

"Half your team is girls, you wouldn't stand a chance," the Corlith who had first spoken told them and Ronon saw Teyla raise an eyebrow and tighten her stance, that comment can't have gone down well and he was willing to bet some of the other girls were about ready to kick the guy's ass.

"I wouldn't insult them while they're standing here," Cameron pointed out "We could leave them to it and they'd probably still beat every member of your team without our help."

"Oh really?" one of the few girl's on the Corlith team questioned, stepping forward and rolling her sleeves up, pushing her long dark ponytail behind her as she prepared to square up to Laura. Laura smirked and rolled her eyes, the girl throwing a punch at her and Laura dodged it, stepping to the side so the girl went flying passed her and into Teyla. Teyla merely grabbed the woman's shoulders, turning her around and pushing her away back to the relative safety of the other Corliths.

"What's going on here?" Professor Trel asked his voice almost as lifeless as always except for the tiny hint of authority.

"Nothing Professor, we were just having a friendly chat," Kolya lied.

"Yeah and we're gonna be lucky if we have time for dinner before afternoon lessons so we'll just be on our way," Jack stated and the group turned around and headed to the cafeteria, leaving the Corliths behind them.

"Can you believe them?" John questioned in annoyance "Seriously the guild competition is supposed to be fun.

"What I can't believe is that girl actually took a swing at Laura," Marcus laughed, several of the other's joined in while Laura raised an eyebrow.

"I don't know what she was thinking," Laura said s they finally made it to the cafeteria.

"Great, we now only have twenty minutes for lunch and there's a queue at the cafeteria," Rodney complained as he looked at the clock and then the long queue.

"Guess we'll have to eat fast then."

TBC


	9. Chapter 9

**Authors Note: I'd beg for forgiveness but you'd still be well within your rights to kill me anyway. I am terribly sorry for the wait though, I feel so horrible, this is the longest I've ever gone without updating. I hope you can all forgive me. **

**Jammeke – **Kolya really is trouble and he's gonna cause a lot of it in this series, thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Crazy – **You'll have to figure out what Cal is up to, I'm not giving anything away lol. I'd like to lock John and Elizabeth in a room too but unfortunately I already have plans for them. I hope you enjoy this chapter thanks for the review.

**Steph – **Thanks for the review.

**Bunnylass – **I was actually debating whether should be a fight or not but I think it works better without one. I love writing Teyla in this story, she's so much fun and I can understand her frustration with John and Elizabeth, they're too cute. I'd like to hit Rodney upside the head too sometimes.

**Sparkly – **There is going to be lots of sparky in this story but there'll be even more later (makes sparky cookies anyway* here you go. Niya has been the very chipper teacher all the way through, kinda makes me wish I'd had a teacher like that when I was in school. Thanks for the review.

**Saphire – **I love Radek's character, he's so nice and you have to respect him for dealing with Rodney and his ego the way he does. I'm glad I give you strong feelings for my OCs but I'm still not giving anything away about Cal. I really enjoyed writing the almost fight scene between the guilds, I'll have to add more of them in. Thanks for the review.

**Belanna30 – **I'm glad you enjoy this story; Valentines Day should be in along in the next three or four chapters. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Kuro – **John's reaction to the dress should be a Kodak moment lol, makes me wish I could photograph it. I'm glad you liked the guild confrontation and Teyla's comments in the infirmary. Thanks for the review.

**Sparkly Goodness – **I love shopping but only in moderation. I have a lot of plans for Jack and Sam and especially for sparky, thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Sez101 – **Thanks for the review, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

* * *

Chapter 9

"Teyla, I think that's enough eye liner," Elizabeth stated as Teyla heard her walk out of the bathroom. She could tell her friend was uncomfortable in the dress she'd picked for her on their latest shopping spree just from the sound of her voice. .

"I'm going for a night on the town not a meeting for a book club Elizabeth," Teyla replied setting down here eye liner and turning around. "Wow," she said when she saw Elizabeth "I'd forgotten how good that dress looked on you, do I know how to pick 'em or what?"

"Yes Teyla, you're fantastic," Elizabeth placated as she walked to her wardrobe pulling out her jacket.

"You really think I'm gonna let you ruin that dress with a coat?" Teyla questioned with a raised eyebrow as though Elizabeth had been stupid to even think of such a thing in the first place and really if you thought about it, she was.

"It's freezing outside, I'm taking my coat and there's nothing you can do about it," Elizabeth told her. Teyla looked thoughtful for a moment contemplating her options.

"Fine, but I'm doing your hair and make up," she informed her, cutting of her response before she could even start to protest. "Ah, ah, it's the jacket or the hair."

Elizabeth glared at her as she moved to sit in front of the dresser. Teyla just grinned and took the jacket from her; she wasn't going to let her wear it until after John had seen the dress. She was sure the expression on his face would be priceless, she kinda wished she could freeze that moment and preserve it forever as an example of her handiwork... where was her camera?

"I'm not sitting here all night," Elizabeth stated and Teyla snapped her attention back to reality realising she'd been staring blankly at the back of Elizabeth's head. Sticking with what Elizabeth already had, she curled her hair more and pinned part of it back before getting to work on the face. Plenty of eyeliner and mascara but not too much, Elizabeth had pretty eyes and they should stand out but not look like she'd took a fist to the face. Other than that she didn't need much and when Teyla was finished she decided it was official, she was awesomely good at this. She really needed her camera; if John's jaw didn't drop she was going to hit him over the head.

"Happy now?" Elizabeth questioned receiving a grin from Teyla in response.

"I will be," she replied and Elizabeth looked puzzled for a moment but shrugged it off.

"Come on, we're gonna be late," she said picking up her purse and making a grab for her jacket. Teyla was faster though beating her to it.

"I've got the jackets," she announced grabbing her own purse and jacket as quickly as she could. "Come on, like you said we're gonna be late."

Teyla almost ran out of the room and walked quickly through the dorms and toward the cafeteria not giving Elizabeth enough time to take the jacket from her. Most of the others were waiting in the cafeteria when they arrived; they were just missing Sam and Vala. Teyla searched out her target hiding a smile when she saw him. John was stood with his back to them talking to Jack, Cal and Ronon. She caught Jack's eyes and gestured to Elizabeth who was walking beside her. Jack's eyes widened, she didn't think anyone would ever get used to Elizabeth looking so dolled up. John noticed of course and he turned to see what Jack was staring at. Teyla held back her gleeful dance as his jaw dropped, she managed to keep her grin in check too, barely.

"Elizabeth, you look fantastic," Jack stated filling the awkward silence that Teyla was enjoying far too much. "As do you Teyla, I demand that both of you save me a dance."

John was still jaw dropped.

Jack elbowed him in the side trying to snap him around again and John coughed, clearing his throat. "You look great," he choked out, his eyes meeting Elizabeth's and Teyla had to bite her lip to keep herself from grinning.

Then someone clapped an arm over her shoulder with a wolf whistle. "Teyla you do good work, Elizabeth you look hot," Vala announced as she arrived with Sam. Elizabeth suddenly seemed to find her new shoes very interesting, shoes that Teyla had picked she felt like noting to herself.

"I agree," Marcus stated "Now let's go for drinks, get drunk and break curfew."

"I'll forget I heard that Mr Lorne," Professor Colbrun said as he walked passed the group.

"Sorry sir," Marcus replied curbing his enthusiasm until they were out of school grounds.

* * *

It had been a great night, curfew was approaching and nobody seemed ready to go home. Many members of the group were a little tipsy but everyone was sober enough they they'd be able to sneak back into school later without getting caught.

"Elizabeth, are you actually going to drink anything?" Jack questioned. Elizabeth gestured to the drink in front of her and Jack raised an eyebrow at her.

"I don't think he means soda," Janet laughed.

"Loosen up," Laura instructed "You might actually enjoy yourself."

"How about I start that round of drinks I owe everyone?" Cal suggested shouting slightly over the music and Jack nodded his head.

"Sounds good to me," he replied.

"Not for me yet, I'm going to dance, Daniel is looking particularly fine tonight," Janet yelled, jumping up from her seat and making her way over to Daniel.

"I'll take up that drink," Laura said as she watched her friend go.

"Fine," Elizabeth agreed after expectant looks from everyone "But just the one, I'm not in the mood for drinking tonight."

"Alright, I'll be right back," Cal told them as he made his way to the bar through the crowd.

"Don't forget," Jack began; pointing his finger at Elizabeth for emphasis. "You owe me a dance. I already collected from Teyla and I expect yours by the end of the night."

"Whatever you say," Elizabeth replied with a smile. She'd been uncomfortable when they'd first left the school earlier in the night but as the night had gone on she'd relaxed a bit. It helped that everyone had stopped telling her how damn fine she looked in her new dress, though Jack had caught John staring on more than one occasion. It seemed that Teyla was intent on playing matchmaker in whatever subtle ways she could get away with, however Jack had to admit, this one had been a good one.

"Here we go," Cal said as he returned balancing four drinks. He put them down on the table, taking his own and allowing the rest of them to take theirs. "They cost e good money, I expect to the bottom of the glasses," he told them, directing the statement more at Elizabeth than anyone else.

"That's really not a problem for me," Jack stated drinking a third of the glass in one go, Cal just laughed at him as he drank his own.

* * *

The music must have been turned up in the last few minutes because it had definitely gotten louder. Elizabeth nearly tripped over her own feet as she made her way toward the bathroom. She felt kind of light headed but in a good way and she decided the bar was the way to head instead of the bathroom. Somebody really ought to turn the lights down, they were way too bright. She lost her footing and reached out for the bar to steady herself only to realise it wasn't anywhere near as close as she'd thought it was.

She fell to the floor, laughing at herself as she sat there. Someone picked her up, pulling her back to her feet. It was a man she didn't recognise; she shrugged him off and went back to her trip to the bar. There were far too many people in this club, she had to push her way though them all it. It was kind of irritating how many of them kept bumping into her; it was hard enough keeping her balance as it was. She fell down again and she wasn't even sure if it was her fault or someone else's. She decided just to stay where she was, sitting in the middle of the crowd; at least if she was already down here then she couldn't fall anymore.

"Elizabeth?" someone questioned as they knelt down in front of her. "Are you alright?"

"Oh hi Janet," Elizabeth replied rather giddily once she recognised her friend. "What are you doing down here?"

"I could ask you the same thing," Janet said grabbing Elizabeth's arms and pulling her back to her feet.

"Is she okay?" another voice questioned and Elizabeth saw John approaching.

* * *

"Hi John," Elizabeth exclaimed as she threw herself at him. That was his first indication that she was in fact not alright. He managed to catch her, holding her upright as she hugged him.

"Is she drunk?" John questioned, he'd never seen Elizabeth drunk before. She was always one of the ones who stayed relatively sober, as far as he knew though she had a pretty high tolerance for alcohol.

Elizabeth giggled as she looked at something over his shoulder "I think Laura fell over," she laughed. She finally released her hold on him and stepped back almost falling to the floor straight away. John and Janet both reached out to grab her and he decided it would be best just to keep a hold on her. "Hello Janet," Elizabeth said as though she was only just realising the woman was there for the first time. She tried to stand up on her own again but John was already her so she didn't fall far.

"She's only had one drink," Janet told him in confused disbelief; there was no way she was drunk on just that.

"She's had plenty more than that before and still been more sober than the rest of us," John stated as Elizabeth started trying to wriggle out of his grasp.

"I want a drink," she demanded somehow managing to slip free. She made it only a few steps closer to the bar before she hit the floor again and John and Janet caught up with her through the crowd. John pulled her up again and she gave him a very enthusiastic thank you accompanied by another hug.

"Are you sure she's only had one drink?" John asked Janet, she would have had to drink more than the rest of the group put together to end up this completely smashed.

"You have very nice eyes," Elizabeth told John seriously and he raised an eyebrow at her before returning his gaze to Janet.

"I'm positive," Janet replied with an unsure glance at Elizabeth.

"I really want another drink," she told them.

"I think you've had enough," John replied receiving a glare in response. She reached out for the bar, someone's half finished drink was sitting there and John held her out of reach.

"Let's find the..." Janet began and then froze as the glass Elizabeth had been reaching for flew straight into her hand. Elizabeth looked confused for a moment but then smiled and raised the glass to her lips. John recovered his senses just in time to take the glass from her and put it back.

"What the hell is going on?" he demanded to know as Elizabeth started struggling to get free, not happy with him for taking the glass from her and not at all fazed by what had just happened.

"Oh my God," Janet said quietly, slowly, as though she was only just realising something she really didn't like her and that meant that John was probably not going to like it either.

"What?!" John exclaimed, Elizabeth was still trying to fight her way to freedom and he was starting to get some odd looks for restraining her.

"Allinyas," Janet told him through gritted teeth trying not to be overheard.

"That new drug?" John questioned recognising the name immediately, news of the problem entering Pegasus had spread through the school pretty quickly; everyone had been talking about the student that was expelled for possession.

"Yes, its effects are psychological and magical; it's the only thing that would explain her..." Janet trailed off looking at the now shouting Elizabeth "Condition."

"You're telling me Elizabeth is on drugs, come on Janet," John said, Elizabeth would never touch the stuff.

"No, it's more likely she was spiked," she answered, her tone suggesting he was an idiot for not thinking of that himself.

"What's going on?" Cameron questioned as he came over his eyes on Elizabeth.

"We'll explain outside, we need to get everyone to..." Janet was once again cut off but this time it was by the sound of a small explosion and the music getting quieter. They looked around to find Laura standing over a smoking speaker. "You have got to be kidding me," Janet said, her exasperation obvious.

"I'm taking Elizabeth outside," John took charge "Janet go and get Laura, Cameron get everyone else and meet us outside." Janet was already on her way before John had even finished speaking; Cameron nodded his head and went to carry out his task. John looked down at Elizabeth "Come on you, we're going outside."

"Okay," Elizabeth replied suddenly compliant for which John was grateful, he wasn't sure how well dragging a protesting woman out of a club would have gone down. He kept hold of her as he took her outside, the street was mostly quiet, just a few people switching clubs or heading to the nearest take away.

"Can we get some food?" Elizabeth asked as she stared at the sandwich shop down the road, one of the few places that remained open into the night, even on a Saturday.

"Maybe later," John replied adjusting his hold on Elizabeth so he could pull her more upright. He only realised then that she didn't have her jacket, she'd been wearing it when they'd gone into the club so she had to have left it in there. Rather that take her back inside he gave her his, manoeuvring himself so he could take it off without entirely letting go of Elizabeth. He helped her put it on, zipping it up for her.

"Won't you get cold?" she asked him perplexed and he smiled slightly as he shook his head.

"I'll be fine."

Laura stumbled out the door then with Janet a step behind her looking slightly annoyed. Laura stood herself up straighter and started swaying from side to side, her balance clearly gone. Janet grabbed her arm to steady her even as Laura tried to shake her off.

"I'm not drunk, I'm fine, I want to go back inside," Laura insisted and then proceeding to do just that she started walking to the door, Janet pulled her back.

"Laura you just blew up a speaker, which we now have to pay for by the way," Janet said, the last part directed at John.

"I was too noisy," Laura defended.

"Well that's not a problem anymore is it?" Janet questioned rhetorically but Laura shook her head proudly anyway. "She's actually not drunk," Janet told John who raised an eyebrow for the second time that night. "No really, she's not drunk; she's been drugged as well."

John took a deep breath, now was not the time to get angry, he'd hunt down and kill whoever was responsible later, right now his main focus had to be the girls. The door to the club opened again, the light and the music filled the street and only made the two girls want to go back inside even more.

"Does someone want to tell me why we're being dragged out of the club when it's not even 11 o clock yet?" Marcus asked as Cameron led the rest of the group out of the club.

"Because Elizabeth and Laura had their drinks spiked," Janet told them bluntly and there was a stunned silence that John would have found funny if not for the circumstances, it wasn't an easy thing to make this group of people go completely silent.

"Are you serious?" Vala finally questioned and Janet nodded as Laura decided to sit down on the floor.

"Unfortunately yes, it's Allinyas , that knew drug that's being circulated," Janet explained as she pulled Laura back up from the floor despite her friend's protests.

"We do have another problem," Cameron added reluctantly. "I can't find Jack anywhere, I had the DJ make an announcement but I don't think he's in the club."

"That's wonderful," John stated sarcastically once again readjusting his hold on Elizabeth.

"We can't leave him behind," Sam pointed out and John had to rein in his annoyance at the entire situation.

"He did drink a hell of a lot," Ronon said and John sighed.

"We need to get the girls back to the school, we'll have to split up, half of us head back and the others stay and look for Jack," he instructed. He didn't want to leave Elizabeth while she was like this but he knew he'd be in the latter group.

"I'll stay," Sam volunteered immediately. John started to protest but Sam cut him off before he could even get a word out. "Yes I'm a girl but I can take care of myself."

"Okay," John said trying to work it out in his head, send the girls minus Sam back to the school with a couple of the guys, the rest would stay. "Teyla stay with Elizabeth, Janet stay with Laura, Vala, Kate, Radek, Rodney, Teal'c and Marcus, all of you head back to the school with the girls. The rest should stay to look for Jack, everyone alright with that?"

There were nods all around so John handed Elizabeth over to Teyla. He watched as half of the group left, hoping that both Laura and Elizabeth would be fine.

* * *

Laura and Elizabeth made their dislike of the situation abundantly clear. Apparently the two girls had been very happy in town and really didn't want to leave. Elizabeth's ability to support her own weight seemed to be all but completely gone; Teyla was almost carrying her through the forest. Laura couldn't walk by herself at all now, her balance was shot to hell she'd fallen over so many times that Marcus and Radek had taken over carrying her rather than watch her nearly bring herself and Janet to the floor anymore.

Apart from their footsteps the forest was silent which unnerved Teyla more than she already was. She'd already encountered the local forest wolves once and she didn't care to do it again, especially not with two members of their group basically incapacitated.

"Here, I'll take over," Teal'c said when Teyla nearly tripped. She gratefully allowed him to take Elizabeth who politely informed him that she wanted to go back to the club.

"What do we do when we get back to the school?" Rodney asked.

"I don't know," Janet replied as she moved to walk next to Teyla. "I only know what I overheard my father say."

"Maybe..." Teyla began, unsure if what she was going to say was a good suggestion or not. "We should get a teacher."

"I don't know, that could cause a lot of trouble," Vala stated.

"But I don't know what else to do," Teyla said worriedly.

"Won't all the teachers be in the staff dorms anyway?" Kate questioned and the group went silent again until they got back to school grounds.

"Let's get them both to my room," Janet instructed as they made their way through the line of trees toward the girl's dorms. Teyla stopped when she saw a light on in the main building recognising which room it was and thanking her lucky stars.

"Colbrun's in his class room," she stated causing the rest of the group to stop and look at her. "If any of the teacher's can help us it's him."

"Teyla are you sure, if you get the teachers involved it could cause a lot of trouble, more than we're already in," Marcus said and Teyla nodded.

"Do you realise how many guards you'll have to get passed?" Rodney questioned.

"I'll be fine, just go to the dorms, I'll meet you there," she told them and then took off toward the main building. It took some dodging but she made it to the main doors without being seen, she just hoped the others had been so lucky. Heading inside she had to duck around a corner straight away to avoid the two guards that passed her. She practically ran up the stairs to avoid another guard that was walking in her direction. She stopped just outside Colbrun's class room taking a deep breath hoping she was right about him before she opened the door.

Colbrun looked up from his desk as she entered the room, surprise on his face which Teyla chose to ignore in favour of closing the door so the guard coming down the corridor wouldn't see her.

"Miss Emmagan what are you doing here?" he asked her.

"We need your help," she told him desperation in her voice she hadn't even realised she felt. "Laura and Elizabeth, their drinks were spiked in town with that... Allinyas. We brought them back but we don't know what else to do."

Colbrun stood up. "Where are they now?" he questioned. It didn't mean they were out of trouble, his first priority would be to make sure both students were alright. If trouble was coming it wouldn't be until later.

"The dorms," she told him. Colbrun grabbed his jacket and motioned for Teyla to follow him. It was nice not to have to worry about the guards on the way back, they saw Colbrun with her and assumed she had permission to be breaking curfew. They weren't completely wrong, she had permission now, she just hadn't had it when she left. They got to Janet's dorm in just a few minutes and Teyla knocked, it was Teal'c that answered and Colbrun gave him a funny look, boys were absolutely not allowed in girl's dorms after curfew.

"Are they okay?" Teyla asked as she walked passed him into the room.

"Not really," Janet answered. Laura was laid in her bed, Elizabeth was in Janet's though both girls were sulking, obviously they weren't happy about being here.

Colbrun came into the room, he walked over to Elizabeth who greeted him with a smile and an over enthusiastic hello. He just returned her smile and put his hand on her forehead, he checked her pulse and looked at her eyes.

"It's definitely Allinyas," Colbrun said as he did the same for Laura.

"I figured that much when Elizabeth developed the ability to move objects without touching them and Laura blew up part of an expensive speaker system," Janet stated, she was at the end of her tether now and it was starting to show. The woman was angry, two of her friends had been drugged and the effects were exasperating to say the least, add to that the knowledge that eventually they were going to have to deal with the aftermath of the drug, no one in the room was happy.

"There's not a lot we can do for them," Colbrun told them "Just keep them in bed, the drug will start to wear off and that's when the real problems are gonna start. They're going to get sick, really sick, all you can do is stay with them, take care of them, make sure they sleep tonight, make sure they eat, they'll need to drink plenty of water or they'll dehydrate when they start throwing up."

Teyla listened carefully; it would be down to her and Janet tonight to make sure that both their friends were okay. At the same time they had Jack to worry about, they wouldn't know until morning whether or not the other's had been able to find him... and the night had started so well.

TBC


	10. Chapter 10

**Authors Note: Once again I am so sorry for the wait though this time I have a good excuse, I was in hospital over Christmas and New Year, horrible place to be during the holidays but I was there all the same. They've only just let me out and I'm not really back on my feet yet but I'm getting there. I managed to get this written though and hopefully I'll be able to get some more done over the next few days, given that I'm mostly stuck in bed I have some free time. I'm very sorry and I hope it was worth the wait. **

* * *

**Sarcasmqueen66 – **Thanks for the review, I hope this chapter was worth the wait.

**Jammeke – **The night really did start out so well lol. I'm glad you're enjoying the story and once again I'm sorry for the wait, hope it was worth it and thanks for the review.

**Saphire** – I loved writing John's reaction to Elizabeth in her new dress s it's good to know that came across well, I love writing Lorne too. I'm so sorry for making you wait again but I hope it turns out to be worth it, thank you for the review.

**Sparkly – **I love Lorne too, he's so great and so much fun to write lol. Thanks for the review.

**Belanna30 – **Thanks for the review and I'm sorry about all the waiting for updates I keep making you do. I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter though and I hope you enjoy this one too.

**Crazy – **Jack's fate is revealed in this chapter and you'll see what happens to the girls too, thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Bunnylass – **I loved writing John's reaction to the dress but I didn't want to go overboard on it so I'm glad that worked out well. I'm really glad you enjoyed the chapter, I spent ages agonising over the drugged scene because I didn't want to get them wrong. Sorry for making you wait for an update again, I'm doing my best to work on the next one.

**Steph – **Thanks for the review.

**Kuro – **What happened to Jack is revealed in this chapter, thanks for the review.

* * *

Chapter 10

It was dawn now, the sun was starting to light the streets, most of the drunks had gone home leaving only the stragglers and a few passed out people here and there. A group of men walked by singing something that Ronon couldn't for the life of him make out. There had been no sign of Jack all night, they'd asked every bouncer and doorman they'd come across but no one could tell them anything, not that one drunk was going to stand out in the crowds of last night. At the same time as wanting to find Jack, Ronon was also anxious to get back to the school to find out of the girls were okay. He didn't know much about drugs but from what he'd heard about Allinyas they were in for one hell of a rough morning once the drug started to wear off.

"What do we do if we can't find him?" Carson questioned, that they wouldn't be able to find Jack was quickly becoming a reality they would all have to accept, there was only so long they could search for.

"We'll have to head back to school for help, talk to the teachers," Cameron replied, his tone suggesting he didn't like the idea anymore than Ronon did. If the teachers got involved it would mean they'd all be even more trouble than they already were, not to mention the police would probably be called to help find the missing student.

There was a moan down the alleyway to the side, not the first one they'd heard but they'd decided to check out everything when the first hour of searching had turned up nothing. John and Daniel turned and followed the sound down the dim side street and a moment later Daniel's voice called back to them that they'd found him. The rest of the group joined them, Sam and Carson dropping down next to Jack where John was already trying to bring his friend round. There was sick nearby which probably belonged to Jack and Ronon had to wonder how much he'd drunk to get himself into a state like this.

"What did you do yourself?" Sam questioned mostly to herself since Jack was incapable of answering at that moment. He was half unconscious and clearly suffering one hell of a hangover, he'd be pretty embarrassed later on.

"You sure pick your nights," John stated as he pulled Jack to his feet and through an arm around his shoulder. Cal moved to the other side of him helping John to support his weight as the group left the alley; it was unspoken that they were heading back to the school now.

"Do you think Elizabeth and Laura are alright?" Daniel asked, they'd avoided mentioning the girls since the other half of the group had left with them but the issue had been weighing down on everyone's minds all the same.

"The others will take care of them, let's just get Jack to his room so he can sleep this off and I can kick his ass," John replied, he'd probably been the person most wound up by the entire situation but Ronon could understand that, if it had been Teyla drugged he would have been the same. They were given a few odd looks from passers by as they dragged Jack through town, most just shrugged it off for what it was, guys carrying their drunken friend home. They finally reached the path through the forest and were spared having to be stopped and asked if Jack was okay though they had to stop several times for Jack to throw up.

"Remind me to put this guy on a leash next time we come out," Cameron stated when they had to stop for the fifth time.

"We need to hurry up and get him back, he's going to need water with all this vomiting," Carson pointed out as they continued along the path again. They finally made it back to the school and managed to get Jack up the stairs of Beltry tower and into his room. Carson helped him drink some water before the drunk man passed out on the bed.

"Someone should check on the girls," Ronon said, his eyes on John who nodded his agreement.

"I'll go find them, you should all go and get some sleep, I'll let you know what's going on later," he replied and there were tired murmurs of acceptance from everyone but Carson.

"I'm gonna stay here, someone needs to keep an eye on him for now," he stated with a nod at Jack who turned onto his side and promptly threw up.

* * *

Teyla sighed tiredly as she sat back down on the floor in the corner of the room, Janet was next to her but the woman had dozed off an hour ago and Teyla had decided to let her sleep for now. Elizabeth and Laura had been impossible to handle for the first few hours of last night, neither had wanted to stay in bed, both insisting they were fine even though they clearly weren't. Then the drug had started to wear off and things had only gotten more difficult, they were throwing up and burning up. Their skin was clammy they kept wriggling out of the bed sheets only half awake, they'd needed a lot of water to replace what they were losing, it had been a long night and it showed no signs of ending with the arrival of daylight.

She was glad she had spoken to Colbrun last night even if it meant there was trouble later; it was a comfort to know that they had the help of a teacher if they needed it. They were all still kids really and none of them had any business trying to handle this alone. She had a good feeling about Colbrun though, Elizabeth had said several times that she liked him, trusted him and Elizabeth was an exceptional judge of character.

There had been no word on Jack yet, she didn't even know if the others had come back from town yet. She hoped he was okay; she would have stayed to help look for him if she hadn't needed to get Elizabeth and Laura back here. Under the circumstances she felt the group had handled the situation well, they'd done everything they could, taken care of everyone, she could honestly say she was proud of them. Now all that was needed was to find whoever had spiked Laura's and Elizabeth's drinks and make them pay.

She was starting to drift off to sleep herself when there was a knock at the door and with another sigh she dragged herself up from the floor to answer it. Colbrun was standing there, concern on his face which had been there when he'd left last night too and she figured he probably hadn't gotten much sleep either.

"How are they?" he questioned and Teyla stepped back allowing him into the room before she followed him in. Janet woke up as they walked in, bringing herself back around quickly once she remembered why she was sleeping on the floor in her own bedroom.

"We've made sure they had plenty of water," Teyla told him as they approached the beds, Janet picking herself up in the corner. "They've been sick a lot though and they're sweating too."

Colbrun brushed Elizabeth's hair away from her face where it had matted to her skin before resting his palm on her forehead. He looked in her eyes, checked her pulse and did the same for Laura when he was done. The two women looked so fragile in their current condition; it was something Teyla wasn't used to seeing from either one. In their own ways they both had this aura of strength around them, with Elizabeth it was quiet strength with Laura it was a little more in your face but they both had it, right now they looked broken.

"You've done very well," Colbrun stated "They're coming through the worst of it, things should start to get a little easier, they should start to settle down."

"That's good to hear," Janet said as she moved to stand with Teyla.

"I do have to ask though," Teyla began cautiously, if they were going to get into trouble over this she would rather just know about it then have to sit worrying about that on top of everything else. "How much trouble are we in?"

"It is not your fault they were spiked," Colbrun told her "Though you were out passed curfew which is your own fault. We do not impose rules simply for the fun of it, curfew is as much for your safety as anything else. I know you are all of an age where a curfew feels more like a hindrance than a help, we are very aware that students break it without being caught almost every day. Providing both girls recover well from this your secret is safe with me this time."

That was a weight off her shoulders "Thank you Professor."

Colbrun nodded. "I will return later today to check on Miss Weir and Miss Cadman."

* * *

John walked through the corridors of the girls dorms, he'd been lucky enough to run into Marcus on the way here so he knew Elizabeth and Laura were in Janet's room. He hadn't stuck around for a lengthy conversation but Lorne had said the two girls had been in bad shape when he'd last seen them. If John ever found out who was responsible for spiking the girl's drinks he was going to kill them in a very painful way. Now that he didn't have to worry about Jack his mind was completely focused on the girls, so much so that he wasn't even registering how tired he was.

Just as he was about to knock on the door to Janet's room the door opened and Professor Colbrun walked out. Teyla was a step behind him and she gave John a small, very tired smile of acknowledgement once she saw him. Colbrun nodded his head as he left and John watched him go for a moment before Teyla's voice brought his attention back.

"Did you find Jack?" she questioned and John looked at her nodding his head.

"Passed out in an alley way a few streets away from the club, we only got back about thirty minutes ago," he told her, "Carson's looking after him, looks like he got himself so drunk he didn't know what he was doing. How are the girls doing?"

"As well as can be expected," Teyla replied gesturing for him to follow her back into the room. Laura and Elizabeth were both in the beds, the covers pushed away from them but still tangled around their lower legs; their skin pale and clammy as their bodies shook slightly and there was a faint smell of sick in the air as well. Janet was currently helping Laura with a glass of water; Elizabeth was semi asleep in the other bed, the scene only made him want to kill whoever was responsible for this even more.

"You spoke to Colbrun?" John questioned and Teyla nodded her head.

"Last night, I didn't know what else to do, he's not going to get us in trouble," Teyla explained as she took the empty glass from beside Elizabeth's bed and then the one Janet handed to her. John didn't know what to do with himself, he wanted to go and sit with Elizabeth, hold her hand or something but she looked like she might break if he even got too close.

"Go and sit with her," Janet said as though she'd read his mind.

He walked over and sat on the edge of the bed, Elizabeth's hair was matted to the sides of her face, the bed sheets and pillows were damp with sweat. Her eyes looked at him as he sat down, there was no focus in them, almost as if she was seeing straight through him rather than looking at him but she somehow managed to give him a small smile, pained as it looked.

"That's the first thing besides moaning she's done for hours," Teyla stated as she came back and placed a fresh glass of water beside the bed and then took another over to Laura's bedside table. John watched her go and then looked at Janet, they both looked exhausted, he could see it in the way they held themselves, they way they moved, he could even hear it in their voices.

"The two of you should get some sleep," John pointed out receiving two weary smiles.

"Kate and Vala said they'd come and take over for us this morning, they should be here soon," Teyla replied. "Though I'm not sure how good Vala will be at playing nurse," she half joked.

"Did everyone get back from town okay?" Janet asked.

"Yeah, Carson's looking after Jack's drunken ass," John told her as he looked back to Elizabeth who had gone back into her semi asleep state again. She kept moving around, pushing and tugging at her clothes, kicking at the sheets twisted around her legs. Teyla grabbed one of the sheets, the thin one which seemed to be the least twisted and pulled it up over her, covering Elizabeth's legs.

"I hope she doesn't ruin that dress, it's the best one she has," Teyla said with another tired smile and John realised only then that all four of the girls were still in their clothes from last night. John had been able to make a stop in his room and change, he'd have showered too but he was too anxious to get here and check on the girls.

"So how bad has it been?" John questioned dreading the answer but needing to know.

"Horrendous," Janet responded simply. "They've settled down in the last half an hour but it's been horrible, easily the worst night of my life."

There was a knock at the door before John could respond and Janet went to answer it, letting Kate and Vala into the room for their watch. The two women drained of colour when they saw the state of their friends and Teyla mentioned something about them being glad they weren't here earlier. Janet and Teyla ran through some stuff with Elizabeth, what to do when they were sick, when to give them water. Laura had a habit of shifting around so much she'd almost come out of the bed and though Elizabeth had a temperature that was through the roof she occasionally complained that she was cold.

"We'll be fine," Kate stated "Go and get some sleep, we'll see you in a few hours, that includes you John; you look almost as tired as they do."

John knew she was right, he hadn't slept last night either but he didn't want to leave Elizabeth again. Kate gave him a meaningful look and John nodded his head, following Teyla and Janet out of the room before heading for Beltry Towers, he wasn't sure how much sleep he was going to get though.

* * *

Jack had woken up an hour ago feeling like his head was about to explode and it had taken him sometime to realise he was in his room at school. The last thing he'd remembered was the club, he'd been dancing with Sam and then there was nothing, like someone had flicked a switch and turned off his memories. Carson had been there, the poor man had looked exhausted as he sat in the chair in the corner of the bed room, trying and just about failing to stay awake. He'd explained what had happened, that they'd found him passed out in an alley a few streets from the club at dawn.

Then he'd explained what happened to the girls and any embarrassment Jack might have felt about letting himself end up in that state was gone. Elizabeth and Laura had been spiked by that new drug that was being circulated; his embarrassment was replaced by anger and guilt. Anger at whoever had done this but also at himself along with the guilt, he should have been there to help not drunkenly passed out in an alley way. Not only had he not been able to help but he'd forced half of his friends to stay in town all night trying to find him when they would have wanted to come back here with the girls.

Carson had left after that to get some sleep, telling Jack that his first apology had been accepted and if he didn't shut up giving them he was going to get mad at him for that instead. Jack had still been in no condition to get up and do anything, his room smelt terrible and his clothes were dirty but he hadn't had it in him to get up and do anything about it until now. He dragged himself out of bed, wrinkling his nose and grimacing at the sick stain on his shirt. He took that off and through it in the laundry deciding the first thing he needed to do was get a shower and put on some clean clothes. Once he was done with that he got rid of his dirty clothes, being in Beltry towers meant his laundry was collected and done for him so he shoved everything in the basked by the door knowing it would be collected at some point in the day.

His head still felt like it was going to explode and everything he did made him feel dizzy, he'd never had a hangover as bad as this in all his life. He sat down on the end of his bed, getting his bearings again as he figured out how he was going to face everybody after last night. He wanted to go see Elizabeth and Laura, make sure that they were okay and apologise for not being there. He still felt tired though, his body just wanted to lay back down and go to sleep which reminded him that the sheets needed changing.

With something to do he immediately got up and stripped the bed, dumping the dirty sheets in the laundry basket and replacing them with clean ones. He caught sight of himself in the mirror; he looked like the walking dead which considering that was how he felt was unsurprising. He finished the glass of water Carson had left for him and then decided he needed to try and eat something, preferably something small and easy on his stomach, he wasn't entirely sure he was passed the throwing up phase yet. He headed for the cafeteria; if any of the others were there then he could get a few more apologies out of the way.

* * *

She still felt terrible but the shower had done her some good, she'd gotten out of her dress which was going to need some serious cleaning. Elizabeth left the bathroom, telling Laura she could take her turn now and thanking her for lending her some clothes. Kate had told them that Teyla and Janet had been looking after them all night and were now sleeping in Elizabeth's room, she'd have to thank them later, for now she'd let them sleep. She ran a brush through her hair, pulling out all the knots that she'd put there during her writhing last night.

She remembered very little of it, she remembered being in the club, she had flashes of falling over, John taking her outside, protesting as she was more or less carried back to school. She remembered how terrible she'd felt, there were moments where she'd been cold but mostly it had felt like her skin was on fire. She'd wanted to crawl out of it at times, to get her own skin off her somehow and the red marks from where she rubbed and scratched at it were evidence of her attempts. She remembered shaking, trying to stop but not being able to and she remembered vomiting more times than she cared to count. There had been pain too and not just from feeling like she was on fire, her whole body had hurt, every muscle had been in pain, every breath made it worse. Janet's bed and Elizabeth's dress were coated in sweat and she decided she'd have to change the bed sheets for her friend before she left.

It was a night she would much prefer to just forget but at the same time the gaps in her memories left her feeling uncomfortable. The pain wasn't gone yet either, it wasn't the same as last night but her body ached, probably as a result of what it had been through. She still felt tired, she'd only had a few hours of uncomfortable, restless sleep last night but it was the middle of the afternoon now and she knew she should get up and try to sort herself out a bit.

She still couldn't believe she'd been spiked, she tried to think back to last night, to when it could have happened but her mind came up with nothing. She always watched her drinks when she was out, never put them down and left them. It wouldn't have taken long though, she'd only have to have her eyes off it for a few seconds for someone to walk passed and drop something in it. She was almost as mad at herself for letting it happen as she was at whoever had done it.

Elizabeth tied her wet hair back, glad that the smell of sick and sweat was gone now though she wouldn't put it passed herself to be sick again, she felt like she could be. Kate was already stripping down the beds and Elizabeth walked over to help her.

"You should go sit down, I can do this," Kate told her.

"I'm fine, I can help," Elizabeth replied. The look on Kate's face said she wanted to protest that she wasn't fine, an assessment Elizabeth couldn't really disagree with but thankfully Kate let it drop and continued to pull the bed sheets away. Vala went to answer the door when someone knocked and a moment later came back with John. He looked visibly relieved to see her up ad about and she offered him a small smile that probably looked more like a grimace.

"How you feeling?" he asked her and she shrugged.

"I've felt better," she replied as honestly as she was going to get, she actually felt like passing out in the freshly made bed but she kept that to herself. "How's Jack?"

"Apologising to everyone he comes across, I think he's saving you and Laura for last," John told her and she nodded her head. She didn't need apologies from Jack, it wasn't his fault she'd been spiked and as for him getting so drunk he was found passed out in alley hours later, that didn't require an apology so much as a lecture.

Laura walked out of the bathroom just as they finished changing the sheets on her bed, like Elizabeth she looked a little better for having cleaned up and changed. They both still looked as pale as ghosts though and clearly being up on their feet was taking its toll on them because they were shaking slightly with the effort it took.

"Vala and I are gonna go down to the cafeteria to see if we can find something for you to eat," Kate told them and the very thought of food made Elizabeth want to be sick all over again. She nodded her head though, swallowing back the feeling, she'd have to eat something sooner or later. The two girls left and Laura dropped herself onto the bed, not even bothering to sort out her wet hair.

"I swear, when I find out who did this to me I'm gonna kill them," Laura stated nauseously.

"There's already a queue," John replied and Laura narrowed her eyes at him.

"I think me and Elizabeth get to cut in front," Laura said getting no argument from John.

TBC


	11. Chapter 11

**Holly-Batali – **Yeah being the hospital sucked but things could have been worse I suppose, thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Sparkly – **There was kind of a lot going on in the last chapter but a lot of friendship scenes and I'm glad you liked them. Thanks for the cookies, I feel better already lol and even more thanks for the review, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Saphire – **I'm glad you liked the line about Elizabeth's and Laura's strength, it just came into my head and rang very true so I thought I'd use it. I felt bad for what I did o the girls but it's all an important part of the story but yeah, they definitely get to cut any lines. Thanks for the review.

**Bunnylass – **Thanks, I'm feeling a lot better now, well enough to get a little writing done at least and really what else am I gonna do when stuck in bed all day. I really put Elizabeth and Lara through hell in the last chapter but I had never intended for it to be pleasant and it is horrible how easily these things happen. Thanks for the review, I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter and I hope you like this one too.

**Belanna30 – **The story will start to progress a little faster now and there's plenty of shippyness to come, I have it all planned out and I've had to force myself to stick to the plan, I'm going for a slow burn with John and Elizabeth, it's killing me to not just write them lol. Thank you for your review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Steph – **Thanks for the review.

**Crazy – **An award, I like the sound of that lol (I would like to thank my friends for the support they have given me, the fans for their patience and my dad for running backwards and forwards to the hospital for me lol). I feel bad for putting the girls through that but it does contribute to the story, I'm not just mean for the sake of it... most of the time. Thanks for the review.

**Kuroima – **Thanks for the review, yeah it'll be a while before you find out who did, do I ever give away the answers early lol? I hope you enjoy this chapter.

* * *

Chapter 11

"I'll meet you there, I just have to go get this damn book," John told Elizabeth as they left the main building. Elizabeth smiled and nodded her head, watching as John ran off toward the library. He'd been putting off going to get the book he needed for Sociology since before the weekend saying that he'd go get it today. The morning was gone though and there was the promise of a very busy afternoon ahead so he probably wouldn't get another chance. Elizabeth carried on toward the cafeteria spotting Sam and Daniel almost immediately and walking over to join them.

"Hey," Sam greeted as Elizabeth sat down dropping her bag next to her and pushing it underneath her chair.

"Hey, know if they're serving anything good today?" Elizabeth questioned, she probably wouldn't eat anything until more of the group arrived but it didn't hurt to start weighing up her options.

"No idea but I'm off to get a soda so I'll have a look while up there," Daniel stated as he stood up. "Either of you want anything?"

"Whatever you're having," Sam replied absently as she searched for something in her bag.

"Elizabeth?" Daniel questioned.

She smiled and stood up "That's okay, I can get my own."

She saw Sam and Daniel exchange a glance but she ignored it, she was sure they understood why she didn't want anyone else near her food or drinks, even people she knew she could trust. Once the Allinyas drug had been out of her system which hadn't really been until last night she had decided she needed to be more vigilant with stuff. Someone had gotten to her drinks, someone had been able to put something in it and she had no idea who it had been. She wasn't going to let it happen again though, from now on no one touched her food but her and the people who made it and she would be watching those few people too.

She followed Daniel up to the short cafeteria queue, grabbing a soda and paying for it herself. She waited for Daniel to get his and Sam's before the two of them headed back to the table together. Sam had obviously found what she was looking for in her bag, the same Sociology book that John had just gone to the library to get and Elizabeth figured there'd be a few of them about. All of the first years would be doing the same essay at the same time and that was the most helpful book of the lot, John would be lucky if the library even had any left at this point.

Jack and Teyla arrived with Ronon following along at a far more leisurely pace, tossing his bag on the floor more than putting it there as he dropped into a seat beside Teyla. Jack was uncharacteristically quiet, had been for the last couple of days other than the ridiculous number of apologies that had been coming out of his mouth. Everyone had assured him a million times that he didn't need to apologise more than once, they knew he was sorry and they were all certain he hadn't done anything on purpose. Under normal circumstances they would all have laughed about it but with everything else that had happened it had just become something to forget about.

Someone dropped down into the chair beside her and Elizabeth jumped slightly having not noticed anyone else approaching. She turned and saw John who gave her an amused, half apologetic smile as he used his foot to push his bag under the chair next to hers.

"Did you get your book?" she asked him and he nodded.

"Last one too, lucky eh?"

* * *

It was nice to spend some time with just the two of them again; it felt like forever since they'd had the chance to do that. Teyla walked closer to Ronon as they made their way through the woods, nudging his arm with the side of her head so that he wrapped it around her shoulders. It was cold enough during the day but the temperature was dropping rapidly now that it was the evening and Ronon was always a great source of warmth, she was lucky she was the only person that got to share it.

"At least everyone's okay, no one seems to have come out of it worse for wear," Ronon said and Teyla hummed her half agreement with him.

"Elizabeth won't let anyone near her food or drinks, not that I really blame her but she won't even let us near them," Teyla replied, it didn't matter who it was that offered to go up to the cafeteria, who else they were getting something for Elizabeth always went up herself now.

"I'm sure she'll relax again eventually, it's bound to have thrown her off a bit, she has pretty good self preservation instincts as it is," Ronon told her and Teyla could at least agree with the last part completely. Elizabeth was very protective of herself, not in a selfish way, in a subconscious desire to stop herself from being hurt.

"I suppose," Teyla said quietly snuggling closer to Ronon in an effort to escape from the cold wind that was blowing, her coat seemed to offer only a small amount of protection and she wished not for the first time since they'd left the school that she hadn't forgot her scarf and gloves. They finally arrived in town and headed straight for the club they'd all been in on Saturday night when everything had kicked off. It was closed as they'd expected but they knocked on the door several times anyway, waiting a while for someone to respond. It was a woman, probably in her mid thirties, short brown hair and clothes that were probably a little more revealing than necessary especially in the winter.

"We're closed," the woman told them after she studied them for a second.

"We know," Teyla replied "We were here on Saturday night with a group of our friends, we left some things behind we were hoping they might still be here."

"Come in," the woman said stepping back to allow them into the building, she locked the door behind them and led them through to the bar. There were a few other people running around, probably preparing for when they opened again in a few hours. "Joey, bring the lost property box."

"Thank you," Teyla said gratefully as a young man arrived with a large cardboard box. Teyla spotted Elizabeth's jacket straight away, Jack's was further down in the box as was Janet's. Sam's bracelet was in there but there was no sign of the ring that Vala had lost nor of Laura's jacket. Teyla searched the box again, handing what she had already found to Ronon but she still couldn't find the two missing items. "This is everything?"

"Yeah," the woman replied "Still missing something?"

"Another jacket and a ring," Teyla told her and the woman eyed both her and Ronon suspiciously.

"You all left a lot of stuff behind didn't you?" she questioned sarcastically and Teyla caught the hidden meaning in her words.

"The stuff is ours, we were forced to leave in a hurry, quite a few things were forgotten," she explained and decided it was probably best to explain further. The drinks had been spiked here after all which meant that it was possible whoever had done it would come back here to do it again. At least if the club was aware of what happened they could be more vigilant, keep their eyes open for anything suspicious. "Actually, the reason we were forced to leave so quickly was that two of our friends had their drinks spiked with Allinyas, I'm sure you've heard of it."

"Unfortunately yes," the woman stated "All clubs have been on the look out for it but it's been showing up everywhere. Your friends aren't the first people to be spiked in this club, I wish there was more we could do to stop it but really we can only keep our eyes open."

Teyla nodded "Thank you for our things, if you find the jacket or the ring could you have a message sent to Pegasus for Teyla Emmagan?"

"Will do," the woman said as she gestured to the exit. "And I hope your friends are alright, please do come back again."

The doors to the club were closed behind them and Teyla was forced to pull her coat tighter around her. Ronon put his arm around her again, walking down the street away from the forest and Teyla looked up at him slightly puzzled, they'd only been planning to make this a quick trip to get their things back, she didn't want to be in the cold longer than necessary.

"Let's get dinner," Ronon stated "Give you chance to warm up before we head back."

* * *

Laura stepped into Colbrun's office with Elizabeth right behind her, the professor had requested to see them both and there was no prize for guessing what it was about. She would have preferred to just skip this little meeting but she wasn't about to push her luck, Colbrun had kept quiet about what had happened and not involved the school; she wasn't going to push it. Colbrun smiled warmly, gesturing to the two empty chairs on the other side of his desk. Elizabeth sat down immediately and Laura followed suit a moment later.

"How are you both?" he questioned, it had been a few days since they'd been drugged now and Laura was still massively pissed off about it.

"Annoyed," Laura told him, curbing her language for the benefit of the teacher though that really didn't seem to cover it.

"I can imagine," Colbrun replied and Laura resisted the urge to tell him that she doubted that very much. He hadn't been through what they had, didn't have to live with half memories and blank spaces, she didn't know which was worse. Her friends had seen her in a state she would never have gotten into her self, they'd had to spend an entire night looking after her and she was far too independent and proud of a person to be happy about that.

"It was a rough weekend," Elizabeth admitted "But we're fine now."

"I'm sure you are, you have some good friends," Colbrun told them. "I just wanted to ensure that you were both okay."

"We are," Laura told him, eager to get out of their as soon as she could.

"And are you sure you don't want to take the matter further, someone out there drugged you, they will have the means to do it again to someone else?" Colbrun questioned and Laura didn't like that it made her feel bad about not getting the school and the police involved.

"What could really be done if you were to involve the police?" Elizabeth questioned with a raised eyebrow. "We were in a crowded club, had been all night, our drinks could have been spiked by anyone at any time. The club has already been made aware of what happened, it's not the first time it's happened, brining the school and the police in would only cause more problems than it solved."

Laura was slightly impressed "What she said."

"Very well, the decision is ultimately yours, you can trust that I will not involve the school in the matter," Colbrun informed them. Elizabeth thanked him and Colbrun allowed them to leave again, it had gone a lot better than Laura had been expecting it to. She'd expected to get questioned about what had happened that night, asked for answers she couldn't give even if she wanted to. She hadn't expected to be asked if she was okay and then allowed to leave again but then Elizabeth had told her not to worry about it.

"Come on, the others are waiting," Elizabeth said when Laura didn't move from the doorway, too lost in her own thoughts. She smiled and ran the few steps to catch up with her; she just wanted to put all of this behind her now. Unless she ran across the person who had done this to them – in which case she'd do a lot more to them than drug them – she just wanted to forget this whole thing. The rest of the group were sat in the cafeteria talking amongst themselves, three different conversations going off all at once. They all stopped when they saw the two girls returning, looking at them expectantly.

"How'd it go?" Carson asked.

"Piece of cake," Laura replied as she and Elizabeth sat down, it was unsurprising that Elizabeth sat next to John, just as unsurprising that the chair next to him had been left free.

"Cake," Jack said as though someone had just put him into a trance, his eyes wondering up the cafeteria queue, the rest of his body following them fairly quickly.

* * *

"Now add the Tylus root," Penrose instructed as he paced the front of the classroom delivering step by step instructions for how to make the potion. It was one of the more complicated ones; it was supposed to create a purple cloud when it was combined with a potion they had made the previous week. The cloud had magical properties, it would morph into various shapes and images, it was a party trick but one that required two very complicated potions. This year was all about learning the art of potion making, the ingredients, next year was when the interesting stuff started, where they started making potions they might actually find a use for one day.

Daniel added the root to the glass beaker while Carson mixed it in, the cloudy liquid smelt terrible put Penrose had already assured them that the smell was normal at this stage. The entire class was making the same potion though and the smell was strong enough to make people's eyes tear up, making this thing was like chopping onions.

"It's Vala's birthday next week," Carson stated conversationally, keeping his voice down so as not to attract Penrose's attention.

"I know she wanted to hit the clubs again to celebrate it but after what happened this weekend I think she's trying to come up with a different plan," Kate whispered leaning across from where she and her partner were working on their own potion.

"Yeah, I think giving the clubs a miss for a while might be a good idea," Daniel replied earning two murmurs of agreement.

"It started out as such a good night too," Kate commented "I still can't believe someone spiked their drinks, you just never expect it to happen to you or someone you know."

"At least they're both alright, Elizabeth's being a little more cautious and Laura's a little angrier but other than that they don't seem to be any worse for wear," Carson said thoughtfully as Penrose told them to add two other ingredients to the potion at the same time. The conversation ceased for a moment while everyone concentrated on what they were doing.

"And Jack finally stopped apologising to everyone, that's a plus," Kate said after she and her partner had added the Grey powder and unpronounceable named liquid to their potion. "I don't think I've ever seen anyone that sorry in my entire life."

"I think he was just mad at himself for not being there, if it had happened at any other time it wouldn't have been so bad but two of his friends had been spiked with a dangerous drug and he was passed out in an alley somewhere from drinking too much, he wanted to be there to help," Daniel explained and Kate raised an eyebrow at him.

"Ever considered being a spiritual or mental healer?" she questioned and Daniel shook his head.

"No thanks, I think I'll leave the psychology stuff up to you," he told her and she smiled and shrugged. "My interest is people in the past not people in the present."

"That sounds like a really sad way to go through life," Kate commented with a thoughtful, amused smile on her face. "Wanting to hang out with the long dead instead of the living, I'm sure there are a million psychological issues that come along with that."

"Stop trying to shrink me," Daniel instructed narrowing his eyes at her "Again."

Kate raised her hands defensively "I was just saying; besides a few sessions with a spiritual or metal healer might do you some good."

"I do not need therapy," Daniel argued.

"Alright you two, quit now before you get in trouble," Carson said stepping into the argument just in time to be caught by Penrose.

"Mr Jackson, Mr Beckett, Miss Heightmeyer, perhaps you could save this quarrel for outside of the lesson," Penrose suggested, warning and chastising in his tone. It was the only time that you heard much more than a flat lifelessness from him, when people were in trouble.

"Sorry sir," they all muttered at once. Penrose continued with the lesson telling them to add the final ingredient to the potion. If they'd done it right the cloudy liquid should turn purple and the smell should start to dissipate, something the entire class was grateful for though Daniel was pretty sure it had made a home in his clothes now. The colour of his potion changed to purple and Daniel noticed a change in the smell almost immediately, looking around it seemed that everyone had been successful.

"Well done everyone," Penrose said without enthusiasm. "Please pour your potions into the potion tubes that have been provided and cap them. Write your names on the labels and place them in the basket on my desk. We'll be testing them next week; you may pack up and leave when you're ready."

There was a flurry of activity throughout the classroom; Carson started packing away the equipment while Daniel poured the potion into the potion tube. He put the red lid on and grabbed his pen, writing their names on the tiny white label as he walked to the front of the class. Half the class had already put their potions in the basket, all of them eager to get out of the classroom as quickly as possible both out of boredom and a desire to get away from the smell.

When he got back Carson had already sorted out most of the equipment, Daniel helped him with the last few things before they left the classroom, standing outside to wait for Kate. She was less than a minute behind them saying a quick 'bye' to her partner as she joined them. They were halfway to Sociology when Daniel realised the smell was still following them, he lifted up his arm to smell the sleeve of his jacket.

"Great, the smell's in my clothes."

TBC


	12. Chapter 12

**Bunnylass – **Thanks for the review, I'm glad you think everyone is in character, I love writing AU's but it does sometimes make it a leader harder to write everyone the way they're written on the show. Jack's bit was fun to write, I love writing him. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Sparkly – **Jack is getting back to normal but he's still feeling a bit of guilt for letting his friends down. Sparky is coming, lots of it, as promised lol. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Jammeke – **I'm glad you liked the cake part of the last chapter, it was fun little bit to write and it seemed to Jack lol. I hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks for the review.

**Kuroima – **I know you want more sparky lol and I promise its coming. I loved writing the banter between Kate and Daniel; they just strike me as two people that would bounce off each other like that. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Saphire – **Elizabeth has a different kind of respect for Colbrun, she trusts him as a teacher and I think because of that she'd be more confident around him than Laura would over something like this. I'm glad you like the scene with Daniel and Kate, I enjoyed writing that one, thanks for the review.

**Belanna30 – **I am feeling better thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter and thanks for the review.

* * *

Chapter 12

"Alaris Tamira," Sam said throwing her hand out and watching as the small orb of light crossed the short distance between her and the target. It hit the board, lighting up half of the lights and she sighed in disappointment, she should be able to do more than that. She took a deep breath and stepped to the side as the lights dimmed away again. Elizabeth stepped forward uttering the same words, she lit up more lights than Sam did but not by many. Teyla was last, she lit up about three quarters of the board, the best any of them had done that day and they'd been at it for half an hour now.

"What's going on with you three?" Joel asked, he was the senior that had been helping them with their Spell Casting training for the inter guild competition. "You all had this spell down last week."

"We've had a rough week," Teyla excused.

Joel sighed "Let's take five."

He got no argument from the three girls; Teyla and Elizabeth went and sat down on the nearby chairs while Joel walked over to another of the seniors. Sam headed over to the refreshment table grabbing a bottle of water and a sausage roll. She was tired, had been all week but she was no worse off than the rest of the group, they were all still recovering from the weekend. It annoyed her that she wasn't doing as well with her spell casting as she had been, she knew she should cut herself some slack this week but in her mind there was no excuse. If she had a rough week during the competition she couldn't afford to let it affect her performance.

Someone walked up beside her and she turned not particularly surprised to find Jack there reaching for the small cakes. He offered her a smile, not quite the same as usual; he was still carrying a lot of guilt from the weekend.

"No one blames you, you know," she said, she kind of missed having the normal Jack around now.

He looked at her for a long moment. "I do."

"Well you shouldn't, if it had been any other night we'd have all been laughing about it," Sam explained "It was just unlucky that it happened to be the same night Elizabeth and Laura were spiked."

"It doesn't matter, I shouldn't have let myself end up like that in the first place," Jack argued and Sam smiled and shook her head.

"I don't think anyone ever intends to let themselves end up like that," she pointed out. "No one is mad at you, no one was even mad at you at the time, we were all just worried."

Jack gave her another small smile, he wasn't convinced, she doubted her ever would be, he'd just have to forget about it and move on. Joel called for her, Elizabeth and Teyla were already back to training and she figured she'd better get back over there and join them.

"I gotta go," she told Jack walking over to join the rest of her team; she stopped and turned back to him, smiling humorously. "Seriously Jack, get over it, the rest of us have."

* * *

John noted down what Professor Antar was saying in his own abbreviated version that he would probably only half understand when he tried to study for his exams. He knew he should make better notes, he was gonna regret his laziness later but he just couldn't bring himself to do it. Besides, he knew he'd end up studying with the others and one of them was bound to have decent notes, Elizabeth and Teyla both made great lesson notes.

"Don't forget the protection circle is only as powerful as the spell that cast it," Penrose explained and John wrote that down, he had to admit his notes were better this lesson than usual but that was because he knew this could be very useful to him. If he wanted to join the protectorates guild then the protection circle spell was one of the basic tools he would need, it was a requirement that all Protectors be able to cast a decent strength Protection Circle. "The more powerful the spell that cast it the more it will protect the occupant from."

The professor continued to explain the advantages and disadvantages of the protection circle both for self protection and protection of others. John made his notes, summarising everything into as few words as possible while still keeping all the important points. The end of the lesson finally came and Antar allowed them all to pack up and leave.

"I have to say, I actually enjoy defence lessons now," Teyla stated as she put her things into her bag. "Now that I don't have a scum bag teacher leering at me through the whole thing."

"I think there are a few girls that would agree with you," Elizabeth replied. Two girls walked passed their desk, glaring at both Elizabeth and Teyla with a hatred that didn't seem to have died down over time. "And then there are those that don't," Elizabeth added watching as the two girls left the room.

"You'd think they'd have gotten over it by now," Jack commented throwing the strap of his bag over his shoulder and waiting for the rest of them.

"Apparently not," Teyla said. The four of them left the class room ignoring the couple of girls that glared along the way, they were getting used to it now and it had become more of a mild annoyance than an actual problem. As long as it was kept to glaring at the occasion cruel comment there wouldn't be any more trouble over the Mathos situation, it was annoying that he could cause them trouble even as he sat in a prison cell somewhere.

They made their way to History, half the class was already in their seats but there was no sign of the teacher yet. They took their seats and unpacked their things waiting for the teacher to show up so they could begin the lesson. It was unusual for Grant not to be there already, he had a class here before this one, he'd usually be putting away his work from that lesson and setting up for this one.

"Good afternoon class," a woman said as she walked into the room, John vaguely recognised her as one of the other history teachers though he couldn't remember her name. "Professor Grant can't make it today; he has a family matter to deal with. I have my own class to teach as do the other teachers and we don't have anyone to cover for him so you're all free to go."

There was cheering throughout the classroom despite the fact that whatever family matter Grant was dealing with was probably something bad if he was missing classes for it. Everyone was just glad to have an extra free period and since it was the last lesson of the day and it was a Friday, it meant their school week was over and the weekend had begun.

"Does anyone know what we're doing for Vala's birthday next week?" Teyla questioned as they packed their stuff up again.

"Not going to the clubs that's for sure, Vala herself has said she's not planning on making it a night on the town," John replied. The four of them left the classroom, making their way to the cafeteria along with the majority of the class.

"Whatever we do, I'm sure we'll make it a good night," Jack stated. "I don't think Vala would have it any other way."

* * *

The boys had decided to get in an extra football practice for the guild competition, Elizabeth wasn't sure why they were so insistent on practicing in the cold but they were out here all the same. She'd come down to the games field with some of the others to watch them play and her body had long since gone numb. Laura and Janet were both keeping warm by jumping up and down shouting instructions and occasionally insults at the boys, they were both on the girl's football team and had taken great pleasure in informing the boys that they'd kick their butts. Elizabeth had a feeling that besides the guild competition there was going to be a boys vs. girls match at some point.

"Come on Marcus, what the hell was that?" Laura shouted when one of the opposition got the ball from him. Marcus stopped for a second to glare at Laura before getting back into the game, Janet yelled something at Ronon who just ignored her and carried on playing. Jack got the ball and made his way around two of the players on the other team; he went for the goal but missed hitting the post instead. Laura had been about to yell something but Teyla clapped a hand over her mouth to shut her up.

"I think it would be best if you stopped yelling at them now," she said and Laura glared at her over the hand still blocking off her mouth.

"I'm with Teyla," Carson said getting nods of agreement from Sam and Daniel. Laura tried to speak but the words were muffled into Teyla's hand, Teyla smiled in amusement and moved her hand.

"Fine," Laura repeated grudgingly this time in a way they could all understand. They all looked at Janet expectantly and with a sigh she too agreed to stop taunting the boys for a while. They watched the rest of the game, cheering instead of insulting.

Elizabeth rubbed her gloved hands together, they were freezing even through the cotton fabric and her coat was only giving her so much protection from the elements as well. The cold wind wasn't helping either, if she was jumping up and down with the rest of them she might not have been so bothered by it but as it was she was going to freeze to death. The game finally ended, Jack, John and Lorne's team had lost, Ronon's had won and the big guy was grinning and high fiving the other Atala's that had been on his team.

The guys headed inside to shower and change, they knew it would only take them ten minutes so they decided to wait around for them. John and Marcus were the first ones out, both of them wearing clean clothes, their hair still damp from the shower. It was probably a bad idea to be out in this cold with wet hair but Elizabeth had told them both that before and they hadn't listened to her then either.

"I don't want to hear it," Marcus said cutting off Laura the second the blonde opened her mouth to speak. Laura raised her hands defensively but kept quiet returning to her conversation with Janet and Carson.

"Well, I thought you played well," Sam said putting a hand over his shoulders sympathetically.

"Even if you did lose," Daniel added with a grin.

John dropped his kit bag on the floor near Elizabeth as he pulled his gloves on over his hands; even he had to be cold in weather like this. Jack was on his way out of the gym building leaving only Ronon to hurry up and get out of there so they could all head back inside.

"You got your butts kicked," Elizabeth stated with a grin, John glared at her.

"It wasn't that bad," he defended and she raised an eyebrow at him.

"You lost by four goals," she pointed out, she was no expert on football but she was fairly sure that was pretty bad. John continued to glare at her, the glare turning into concern.

"Elizabeth, your lips are blue," he said in disbelief.

"What do you expect, it's freezing out here," she replied, she'd always got cold easily, it wasn't the first time she'd started turning blue from it and she doubted very much that it would be the last

"Guys, we'll meet you in the cafeteria," John told the others who waved him off and before Elizabeth could protest she was being ushered away from the field. "You should have gone inside if you were that cold," he chastised and Elizabeth found herself raising an eyebrow at him again.

"I'm fine," she told him resisting the urge to remind him that she wasn't five years old and she was perfectly capable of taking care of herself; he was only concerned for her. They went into the cafeteria and John took his gloves of straight away, Elizabeth opted to keep hers on for the time being, even as she felt her hands start to burn from the change in temperature.

"Coffee," John stated "We need coffee, really hot coffee."

"Sounds good," Elizabeth replied following him up to the cafeteria queue and reaching into her pocket for her purse.

"I'm buying it," John told her putting his hand on hers to stop her.

"Actually I..." Elizabeth began, she knew she could trust John but every instinct in her told her to get the drink herself. It was stupid, she knew, but after having her drink spiked she wasn't ready to let anyone near any of her food or drinks for a long while.

"You can watch me buy it," John said and Elizabeth bit her lip and nodded her head, ignoring the alarm bells in her head. If she saw him buy the drink then where was the harm? She mentally told the alarm bells to shut up.

* * *

They'd decided it would be best just to go for dinner for Vala's birthday, clubs were going to be out of the question for a while and even Vala had agreed that it would be best to avoid them for the time being. She was disappointed of course, she loved a good party but she understood that neither Elizabeth nor Laura would be able to relax and enjoy themselves in the clubs. They'd opted instead for a visit to a pub then a meal; it meant they might even make it back to school by curfew.

Cameron had just bought a round for everyone, minus Elizabeth who was still insisting on buying all her own food and drinks and then watching them like a hawk. Rodney was already verging on drunk and Teyla decided that she would have to cut off is alcohol supply after the drink he was currently holding, they had dinner to get through yet. She was determined to make sure this was a good night, after their last night out she was going to make sure that this one ended as well as it had started. Jack had only had a few drinks, he was being overly cautious about how much alcohol he consumed but he'd probably lighten up again over time.

"Relax," Ronon whispered in her ear as he moved to stand behind her."Nothing's gonna go wrong."

"I'll bet you would have said that last time too," she countered leaning back against him; the constant vigil was actually rather tiring.

"There's no point in being here if you're not going to enjoy yourself," he told her his arms going around her.

"I know, I am enjoying myself," she said and she could feel the incredulous look he gave the back of her head without having to turn around and see it. At least everyone else seemed to be having fun, even Elizabeth was relaxed and enjoying herself, she was currently sat in the booth in the corner with John and Daniel, the three of them laughing about something. She was keeping her drink on the table in front of her, right under her nose where no one could get to it without her seeing them.

"What time is it?" Sam asked as she walked passed the couple, Teyla glanced at her watch.

"Almost half past, we should head to the restaurant once everyone's finished their drinks," she told the blonde who nodded and walked off to start informing people they were heading out soon. Teyla glanced over to Vala; the birthday girl looked like she was having a great time despite not being in the clubs she loved so much. She was dancing with Cameron, there was no dance floor but that hadn't stopped her, everyone was determined to make sure she enjoyed herself tonight.

"Somebody take that drink off Rodney," Carson called across the room; Teyla looked around to see Rodney trip over the leg of one of the bar stools. Part of his drink spilt on the floor, only half of it staying in the glass. Teal'c took it from him ignoring Rodney's somewhat slurred protests and insistence that he was not drunk, he was fine.

"I think we should go to the restaurant before Rodney gets hold of another drink," Radek suggested and when there was no objections the group gathered up their things and left the pub. The restaurant was only a short walk away; Cal went after Rodney when he started wondering off and guided him the rest of the way. They'd made reservations; they'd never get tables big enough for the whole group if they didn't, so everything was already set up for them when they got there.

Their starters were brought out for them and Teyla watched Elizabeth stare at them warily for a moment before she actually ate any, she really hoped her friends wariness of all food and drinks wore off soon, at least a little bit. Laura wasn't having the same problem, she kept a close eye on her drinks but she had tucked into the starters as soon as they'd been put on the table. Rodney already had a mountain of food on his plate, so much so that it was falling off the edges. Janet was sitting next to him getting frustrated with stopping the cocktail sausages from rolling across the table.

"He's not allowed more than one pint next time we come out," Janet said taking some of the food from Rodney's plate and putting it on a separate one.

"If that," Carson agreed from the other side of Rodney.

"I am here you know," Rodney cut in "I can hear you."

"We know," John replied smiling in amusement as Rodney dropped his sausage roll.

"And I'm not drunk, I'm perfectly fine," Rodney continued as he leant down to pick up the sausage roll his head hitting the table on the way back up.

"Just don't drink any more alcohol," Teyla instructed "No one is going to be dragging you back to school before the end of dinner."

"And I was worried tonight would be boring," Vala commented laughing at the look on Rodney's face as he rubbed at his head.

* * *

He watched the group, they were all so relaxed and happy, perfect targets for someone like him. Even after everything that had happened they were still leaving themselves so open, he wasn't going to do anything tonight though, easy as it would be. He'd already picked his targets, it would be stupid to try and take on all of them, the only thing that would get him was caught. He had to play this smart, had to consider all of his moves before he made them but then it was the same with all of his other victims as well.

Sometimes it was easy, they'd get addicted and come to him, the problem then was making sure that in their desperation they didn't make a sloppy mistake that got both them and him caught. In cases like this though the problem wasn't keeping them from screwing up it was not screwing up himself, they had no idea right now what was going on, what was going to happen and it would be a little while before they figured it out.

Elizabeth was going to make things difficult, she'd been on constant watch since he'd first drugged her but everyone let their guard down at some point or another, he just had to make sure he didn't miss his chance when it came. Other than that getting to his targets in this group was easy, they weren't anywhere neat as vigilant as they thought they were, no one ever was.

He kept a close an eye on everyone, it never hurt to keep your options open and though he had no intention of taking on more people out of this group you never did know what the future held. His concentration was mostly on the victims he'd already picked out, he'd been watching them for a while already, he knew where his openings would be, when to strike and when to wait. He'd done this before, not with Allinyas but with other drugs, Allinyas was easier, it was twice as addictive as anything he'd dealt with before. He'd known some people take it willingly just to avoid the after effects, he knew from experience they were pretty nasty.

Allinyas was an interesting drug though, after a while you gained not so much a tolerance but an ability to control the magical side effects. It was like a power booster and mind altering drug rolled into one, you got the power and the euphoria, it was no wonder people were so easily addicted to it. The group were ordering their food now, not one of them was aware of how easy it would be to intercept their dinners, the plates could be put down in front of them dosed up with Allinyas and no one would know about it. Even after they discovered they'd been drugged, they'd never know that it was the meal they had at the classy restaurant that had been spiked.

People were careless and too naive; it made his job so much easier.

It would probably take a few months and a fair bit of his supply but he made enough from those who paid him for the drugs to more than cover it. Then he would start making money from these people as well, it was a risk, it always was but he would never get anywhere in this business if he wasn't willing to take them.

He'd get them, he'd never failed before.

TBC


	13. Chapter 13

**Bunnylass – **You'll have to wait and see who that was at the end lol and there really is no one better to give Jack a kick up the butt than Sam, one of the few people he might actually listen to. The Sparky is coming, very soon. Thanks for the review.

**Jammeke – **Thanks for the 'll find out in eventually who's behind the drugging but I can't promise it'll be soon, I like to keep you all in suspense.

**Belanna30 – **I'm glad you enjoy all the little sparky moments, there are big ones to come soon as well and Ronon and Teyla just are cute. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Saphire – **You'll definitely get more Sam and Jack in this story, sparky too. I'm not telling you whether your guess is correct you'll just have to wait and see, thanks for the review.

**Steph – **Thanks for the review, I'm glad you liked the final part of the last chapter, I kinda enjoyed writing that part, my bad guys always intrigue me lol. Hope the update is fast enough.

**Sparkly – **I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter even with the creepy bit at the end lol and thanks for the review.

**Kuroima – **Lots of sparky to come soon and more Jack and Sam too, thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

* * *

Chapter 13

Most of them had decided to have dinner late that day; the majority of the group had a test that week in Mythology and had spent the afternoon studying. After several hours of cramming information into their heads they'd deemed themselves done for the day, any more and they would have short circuited their minds. Janet finished her fries and threw her rubbish in the bin; she hadn't really been that hungry to begin with but she hadn't eaten since lunch time so she'd forced herself to get something.

"I'm exhausted," Jack stated "I think I'm gonna go to bed."

"Alright, see you in the morning," Marcus waved him off and Jack stood up to leave, he nearly tripped over his own feet but quickly righted himself and left.

"Was it me or was he acting really weird?" John questioned as he watched his friend leave.

"No, he was definitely acting weird," Teyla replied "And when was the last time he went to bed at..."she began glancing down at her watch. "Eight thirty?"

"Leave him alone, if he's tired he's tired," Elizabeth defended him as Laura started to get up from the table giggling about something. Janet narrowed her eyes at her the blonde who had been acting weirder than Jack over the last twenty minutes. She started to walk over to the cafeteria only to trip over her bag which she'd left at the side of her chair. Janet and Cal both jumped up out of their chairs, picking her back up as she laughed at herself.

The first thing Janet noticed was that Laura's pupils were dilated, then that her friend was very shaky on her feet. Janet was half tempted to say that her friend was drunk but she knew for a fact that Laura hadn't had any alcohol in the last few days never mind the last few hours. Laura sat back down at the table, whatever she'd been planning to do before was obviously forgotten as she dropped herself into her chair. Janet wasn't the only one concerned either, Elizabeth and Teyla were both eyeing the woman warily.

"Laura, are you alright?" Teyla questioned.

"I'm fine," Laura told her over cheerfully "Why wouldn't I be?"

Teyla's question had drawn the attention of the rest of the group; they were all watching Laura who was completely oblivious to it. She tried to reach for the remains of her soda but instead knocked it over, laughing at her clumsiness. John picked up the can and put it upright on the table before going to get some paper towels to clean up the rest of the mess. Laura grabbed the now mostly empty can, taking a drink of it and then eyeing it in annoyance that there wasn't much left.

"Stupid thing," she muttered.

The can then exploded, with a popping sound the remainder of the soda went into the air, coming back down on the group. John came back with a handful of paper towels, a look of shocked disbelief on his face having seen what happened on his way back to the table. Laura was unfazed by it; in fact she'd gotten up and wondered off while the group had been distracted. Elizabeth ran after her bringing her back to the table and making her sit down in one of the chairs.

"What is going on?" Teyla questioned.

Janet couldn't believe what she was about to say. "Allinyas."

"You can't be serious," Teyla stated, Janet stared at her for a moment "You are serious. How could someone have gotten to her food again, we're in school, all she's eaten and drunk is stuff from the cafeteria?"

"As much as I hate to say it, whoever did this must be in the school," John stated as he and Cal cleaned up the mess that had been made by the exploding soda. Laura was once again trying to get up and wonder off. "Somebody should take her to her room."

"I'll do it," Janet said walking over and grabbing her friend by the arm.

"I'll come with you," Teyla told her taking hold of Laura's other arm just in time for the blonde to fall. They caught her before she could fall very far and pulled her back to her feet again, hopefully they'd be able to get her to her room without attracting too much attention.

"And I think I'd better go and get Colbrun" Elizabeth told them thoughtfully getting dubious looks from everyone. "She's been drugged twice now and at least one of those times was by someone in the school. I don't like it anymore than the rest of you but I think it's time we involved the school."

"She's right," John agreed throwing the soaking wet paper towels into the bin "I'll help you find him."

"We'll meet you in my room," Janet told them when Laura's legs went out from under her and Janet and Teyla were forced to drag her out of the dining room. "This woman needs to lay off the cheese burgers."

"I hope," Laura began finding her feet again and bringing her face to within inches of Janet's. "That you are not calling me fat."

"Of course not."

* * *

Elizabeth hurried through the corridors of the main building hoping that Colbrun would be in his office. John was waling along beside her both of them a little out of breath from more ore less running up three flights of stairs. They breathed a sigh of relief when they saw the light in Colbrun's office on, they knocked on the door not waiting for a response before they went inside.

"Miss Weir, Mr Sheppard," Colbrun greeted with a raised eyebrow as he stood up at his desk. "What can I do for you?"

"Laura had her drink spiked again," Elizabeth told him bluntly. "It was here in school though."

"And where is she now?" Colbrun questioned grabbing his keys and gesturing for them to leave the office in front of him.

"In her room," John replied as Colbrun locked the door behind them and the three of them rushed back out of the main building. When they reached Janet's room they were met by the sound of a small explosion and they decided to forego knocking and ran in. There was a small fire on Laura's bed; the blonde was on the floor nearby while Janet and Teyla tried to put it out.

"Aqualas," Colbrun said holding his hand out, water fell onto the fire putting it out in just a few seconds. Teyla sat herself on the floor with a heavy sigh and Janet took a deep breath running a hand through her hair. Laura was getting up again making her way to the door; John grabbed her and brought her back.

"Why is it always explosions with you?" he questioned as he made her sit down on Janet's bed.

"Boom," Laura giggled and let herself fall backwards onto the bed.

"I take it she was drugged in the cafeteria," Colbrun said as he walked over to the blonde. He checked her pulse, looked in her eyes and checked her temperature like he had done the last time. Elizabeth nodded to his question and Colbrun looked thoughtful for a moment. "I hate to have to ask but are you sure she was spiked?" he questioned and when he got a confused silence in response he continued. "Are you sure she didn't take the drug willingly?"

"Of course we're sure," Janet relied angrily "Laura wouldn't take drugs."

"I had to ask," Colbrun defended "It is extremely strange that the same person would be drugged twice in two different places."

"She didn't take it willingly," Janet told him firmly, anger still in her voice at the very suggestion that Laura would be involved in something like that voluntarily.

"Alright, I'm afraid I can't keep this one to myself though, if she was drugged on school grounds then other students are at risk as well," Colbrun informed them receiving several nods in response.

"We know that," Elizabeth replied looking at Laura.

"Take her to the infirmary, I'll meet you there with Principle Morlin," Colbrun instructed and then left the room. John pulled Laura up from the bed, she tried to push him off so she could lie back down but John kept his hand on her arm pulling her towards the door despite her protests.

"She's gonna be really mad when she comes out of this," Janet said as she and Elizabeth followed behind John, Teyla and Laura. It took them longer than they would have liked to reach the infirmary, it was on the bottom floor of the main building, a long room with beds along either wall and an office where the on duty doctors and nurses worked. John and Teyla took Laura to one of the beds and pulled the curtain around while Janet and Elizabeth got the doctor.

"What happened?" Dr Brellen questioned as she walked through the curtain, Elizabeth and Janet right behind her.

"She's been drugged, her food or her drinks were spiked with Allinyas," Janet explained. Dr Brellen froze momentarily but then continued to fuss over Laura in the same way Colbrun had. "I'll have to ask you all to step outside the curtain please."

They did as they were instructed in time to see Colbrun arrive with Principle Morlin. The principle looked angry; a serious expression on her face but then Elizabeth couldn't remember not seeing that expression on her. Colbrun offered them a reassuring smile; Elizabeth didn't feel all that reassured by it. She had a feeling things weren't going to get any easier for them, in fact she was sure they were going to get a lot more difficult. It would have been selfish not to involve the school though, other people were at risk and the school environment was a lot smaller than the one up town. The list of possible suspects was a lot shorter.

"Alright, does someone want to explain what is going on?" Morlin questioned, unlike Colbrun there was no sympathy in her voice, there was almost accusation actually. It seemed as far as the principle was concerned they were all suspects, Laura too probably. They explained that Laura had been spiked in the cafeteria, that it was the second time; she and Elizabeth had been spiked in a club up town about two weeks ago.

"And Miss Weir, do you have any idea who might want to drug you?" Morlin questioned, the accusation was a little more obvious in her voice. There was too much suspicion in the way the Principle looked at her, like she thought she'd taken the drugs willingly and was trying to avoid the consequences.

"No, I don't know," Elizabeth told her. "I do know that I would never take them willingly and neither would Laura."

"It would seem rather unbelievable that the same person would be drugged twice," Morlin stated, the accusation was obvious now; she might as well come right out and say it.

"All the same, that's what happened," Janet replied firmly.

"We'll see," Morlin replied as Dr Brellen came out from behind the curtain to give the Principle her diagnosis.

"It's definitely Allinyas," Brellen stated "I've sedated her for now; it'll take about forty eight hours for the drug to completely wash out of her system. I'll keep her sedated for twelve of them, that'll get her through the worst of the after effects."

"When she's awake I'll need to question her, I'm sure the police will want to speak with her as well. In the meantime I'll need to speak with all you and the rest of Miss Cadman's friends," Morlin said directing the last part at Elizabeth and the others and then left the room letting them all know she and the police would be speaking to them very soon.

* * *

Jack's head was pounding as he woke up, within seconds a wave of nausea hit him and he picked himself up from his bedroom floor and ran into the bathroom barely making it to the toilet in time. His skin was sweaty, his clothes smelled of sweat and sick and his bedroom was a mess like someone had trashed it. When he was finally able to leave the bathroom he realised it was morning, the last thing he remembered was walking into his room ready for a good nights sleep. He had no idea how he'd ended up on the floor, how his room had gotten into this state or why felt like he had another really bad hangover. His memory of last night felt kinda fuzzy, non existent would have been more accurate actually but he was pretty damn sure he hadn't been drinking.

He turned around and walked back into the bathroom, turning the shower on and getting rid of the smelly clothes before they made him feel even sicker than he already did. He showered quickly and went back to the bedroom, finding some clean clothes to put on and dumping the dirty ones in the laundry basket near the door. His head was still spinning but unless he wanted someone to see his room and start asking questions he was gonna have to get it tidied. He started picking things up; everything had been knocked of his bedside table including his lamp which now had a smashed bulb. He threw the broken one along with the shards of glass into the bin cursing when he cut his thumb on one. He picked up the clothes on the floor and shoved them into the bottom of his wardrobe; he'd tidy them properly later when he felt up to it.

There was a knock at the door and Jack looked at the mess that was still in his room, he told whoever it was he'd just be a minute and quickly took off around the room. He made it look half decent in thirty seconds, most of the mess was just hidden but it was out of sight and that was all he was bothered about for now.

"Jack, come on," Daniel's voice called from the other side of the door and Jack went over to open it. His friend didn't look happy; in fact he looked the exact opposite, solemn and angry.

"What's going on?" Jack asked ignoring his nausea.

"Laura was spiked again," Daniel told him and Jack felt his stomach turn in a way that had nothing to do with feeling sick. "She's in the infirmary, the school's involved this time and the police arrived this morning."

"When did this happen?" Jack asked he had a bad feeling that something was about to click into place and he really didn't like the way it fit.

"Last night, we would have told you sooner but some of us only found out today, Marcus came up to tell you earlier but you didn't answer your door," Daniel explained, there was a question in the last part that Jack didn't want to have to answer, at least not with the truth, not yet.

"Yeah, I went to the library this morning," he lied.

"Well, we've all been called to Morlin's office," Daniel told him and Jack nodded.

"I'll just get my jacket and shoes, I'll meet you there," Jack said. Daniel left and Jack closed the door, he knew he hadn't drunk enough a couple of weeks ago to end up in the state he had. He'd just shrugged it off, he hadn't been able to remember the majority of the night and there were bigger concerns than how he'd gotten so drunk he'd passed out in an alley. So he'd had his drinks spiked, last night too apparently but what the hell was he supposed to do about it. He didn't want everyone knowing about it and what good would them knowing do anyway?

It wouldn't do anything for anyone, they were already investigating Laura's drugging, they'd catch the person that did it to her, probably the same person that did to him. Knowing that Jack had been drugged as well wouldn't make a difference, it would just change the way people looked at him and he wasn't willing to put up with that for no good reason.

* * *

Morlin's office was probably the most intimidating room John had ever been in; it was a large room, a book shelf taking up an entire wall. It was decorated with deep reds, browns and beiges; there was a large sofa at one side of the room and a small table in front of it. On the wall was a large portrait of Morlin and pictures of the school through out the few hundred years it had been standing. The desk was the focal point of the room; it was huge and made of dark wood that showed signs of age but at the same time looked polished and clean.

The Principle was sat behind her desk, two police officers sat at the other side on less comfy looking chairs. They all watched him walk in, judging eyes following his movements as he took a few steps toward them. If they were going for a daunting look then they were definitely getting it spot on, he half felt like making a run for it.

"Good Afternoon Mr Sheppard," Morlin greeted him flatly "This is Officer Talii and Officer Bell from the Pegasus Police force," she told him, the two officers nodded their own greeting, no warmth or friendliness in it. They were interrogating a suspect here, they weren't exactly going to smile and offer him a drink. "Please take a seat."

It was more of an order really and John did as he was told sitting in the least comfortable chair in the room. The two officers were still looking at him judgingly and he felt a little self conscious under their scrutiny. He knew every move he made was being studied, everything he said would be analysed, he hadn't done anything wrong and he wasn't a self conscious person by any means but it was an uncomfortable position to be in.

"Mr Sheppard we need to ask you a few questions, we'll be investigating both instances of drugging, the one here and the one at the club in town. As you know we've already spoken to some of your friends but in order to create a complete picture of what happened we need to speak to all of you," Officer Talii told him, he left out the part where they were judging all of their suspects but John decided not to bring that up.

"What time was it when Miss Weir and Miss Cadman were drugged two weeks ago?" Bell asked jumping straight in.

"About 11 o clock," John answered and Talii wrote it down on the pad of paper in his hand, at the other side of the desk Morlin wrote it down as well, for the school's independent investigation no doubt.

"We'll talk about the curfew break later," she stated without looking up from the paper and John grimaced inwardly.

"What did you do then?" Bell continued with the questioning.

"We left the club and decided it would be best to get them both back to the school. We would all have brought them back but one of the group was missing so half of us stayed behind to find him. Teyla and Janet looked after them over night," John explained hoping to leave Jack's name out of it if he could but then Jack had already been questioned along with a couple of the others, they could already have his name.

"That was Jack O'Neill, correct?" Talii asked reading from previous notes and confirming John's unvoiced thoughts.

"Yes."

"He was found passed out in an alley having drunk too much?" Talii continued.

"Yes."

"Why didn't you report the drugging?" Bell questioned and John shifted uncomfortably in his chair, he could feel all three people watching him judgingly, this was one of the parts they were all the most annoyed about he could tell.

"We didn't think it would do any good, we'd been in a crowded club all night, it's not the first time someone has had their drink spiked there. We thought it would cause more trouble than it helped with," John explained, looking back it might have been stupid not to have reported what happened but hindsight was a beautiful thing, shame it came too late.

"Did you buy any food or drinks for Miss Cadman or Miss Weir that night?" Bell questioned.

"No."

"Did you touch any of their food or drinks?"

"No."

"How much time did you spend with them?"

John had to think for a minute to try and remember "Some, I talked to Laura a few times, spent most of the first hour and half with Elizabeth," John told them thinking back as best he could. The club had been manic and he'd been dashing around all over the place.

"How about yesterday evening, you were there with Miss Cadman when she was drugged?" Talii asked, it was one of the first questions he'd asked, he'd mostly just been making notes the entire time.

"Yeah, I was there."

"Did you touch any of her food or drinks?" he asked.

"No."

"Did you see anyone else touch her food or drinks?"

"No," John answered "If I had I would have said something especially with what happened a couple of weeks ago."

"Did you see Miss Cadman add anything to her food or drinks, salt, sauces, anything?" Talii asked.

"She put ketchup on her fries," John told them a little incredulous at the question.

"What about a couple of weeks ago, did you see Miss Cadman or Miss Weir add anything to their food or drinks?" This was obviously about finding out if Laura or Elizabeth were taking the drugs willingly, if they were doing this to themselves. It made him angry that they would suspect them but they didn't know them and they had a job to do, they had to rule out everyone.

"No."

"Do you have any reason to be angry or upset with Miss Cadman or Miss Weir?" Bell questioned and this would be the part where they tried to figure out if he'd done it.

"No."

"Do they have any enemies, people they don't get along with or have had confrontations with?"

They seemed to be getting a little annoyed with his short answers so he thought about his question and elaborated on his answer just so it would seem more like he was co-operating. "Mathos' fan girls. Just before Christmas one of our teachers attacked Teyla in his office, we got him arrested, unfortunately there were quite a lot of girls that had a thing for him and weren't really happy about it but they'd be more likely to go after Teyla."

"Is there anyone they are particularly close to, anyone who might have access to their things?" Talii questioned and once again John thought about his answer.

"We're a pretty close group of friends, their room mates would have the best access but they wouldn't do this," John told them.

"Why do you think only Miss Cadman was drugged this time and not Miss Weir?"

"Elizabeth has been pretty...vigilant with her food and drinks since what happened at the club, she won't let anyone near them so I guess whoever did this just couldn't get to her this time," he guessed and watched as both Talii and Morlin wrote down what he'd said. Bell whispered something to Talii who nodded his head but gave nothing away.

"Thank you Mr Sheppard, you're free to go but please be aware we may have further questions for you later," Talii told him and John nodded and stood up to leave.

"Please send Miss Weir in," Morlin instructed and John nodded again, he left the principles office and went into the waiting room outside where the rest of the group were gathered. They all silenced when he walked out and he breathed sigh of relief that his questioning was over for now.

"Your turn," he told Elizabeth, she stood up and walked passed him into the office looking distinctly nervous. He took the seat she'd been sitting in, getting comfortable for the long wait while the rest of the group had their turns.

* * *

She couldn't ever remember being this angry, not ever in her entire life. She was so furious she didn't even know what to do with herself, she wanted to hit something but since she was surrounded by innocent bystanders she kept her fists to herself. Not being able to lash out at anything only made her feel even angrier. She'd been spiked again, this time in her damn school; she should have been safe here.

"Miss Cadman, for the last time, I'm going to have to ask you to calm down and sit back on the bed," the nurse told her. The blonde woman seemed like a very nice person which was why Laura didn't take her anger out on her, physically or verbally.

"I'm fine," Laura told her for the sixth time but the nurse wasn't having any of it and came over to usher her into the bed. "Seriously, I don't need to be lying around in a bed, I need to go and find out who did this to me so I can beat the shi..."

"Laura," a voice cut in and she looked behind her to see Carson and Janet stood by the half drawn curtain with amused grins on their faces. "Do as you're told and get back on the bed," Janet ordered her and the nurse took advantage of her distraction to get her back onto the bed with a warning to stay there or she'd get sedated again.

Laura sighed and put a hand to her head, it felt like it was going to explode but that didn't change the fact that she didn't want to be stuck in the infirmary. She'd woken up a few hours ago having spent the entire night under sedation, the doctor had told her what happened which had automatically given away that her friends had chosen to involve the school this time. She couldn't disagree with their decision, whoever had done this was in the school and that meant other students were at risk.

"I shoulda known you'd be making the medical staffs lives miserable," Janet joked as she and Carson took the chairs that had been left near her bed.

"Oh shut up," Laura replied with a sulk, both her friends just laughed at her."Where've you all been anyway?"

"Getting questioned by the police, everyone else is still up there, we thought we should come and check on you," Carson told her and Laura's eyes widened, no one had mentioned the police to her never mind that while she'd been lying around down here her friends were being questioned by them.

"Everything going alright?" she asked, she hated to think that one of her friends had gotten themselves arrested, Rodney could easily talk himself into being arrested just by opening his mouth.

"As well as being questioned by the police can go, they've been brutal with a few people, Jack looked kinda pale when he came out of Morlin's office, Ronon didn't look that great either and I'm not sure what they said to Elizabeth but she was looking like she'd just walked out of a war," Janet told her grimacing slightly. "How are you feeling anyway?"

"I've felt better," Laura told her as close to admitting how crap she felt as she was going to get.

"Well, let's just hope that they catch whoever did this."

TBC


	14. Chapter 14

**Holly-Batali – **Thanks for the review, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Saphire – **I'd be pretty bad if I was Laura too lol, I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter, thanks for the review.

**Belanna30 – **We shall see indeed lol, thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Bunnylass – **Even though the group don't want trouble it seems to keep finding them and it wouldn't have been right not to get the police involved at that point. Poor Jack and Laura, I almost feel bad for being so mean to them. Thanks for the review.

**Sparkly – **I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter, thanks for the review.

**Steph – **Laura is such a great character and a lot of fun to write. I'm glad you liked the interrogation scene and yes you have mentioned many times how much you like Colbrun lol. Thanks for the review.

* * *

Chapter 14

The police seemed to be finished with questioning the group; for now at least. Laura had been interrogated a few hours after she'd woken up and it appeared that neither the police nor Principle Morlin had been inclined to go easier on her since she had still be recovering from the drugs. They had actually been pretty brutal, she was as much of a suspect as any of the others, maybe even more so and they had treated her as such. She was fairly sure Elizabeth had been given the same treatment but neither woman really wanted to compare notes, there would no doubt be more questioning to come.

Laura tried to focus on what Professor Althwaite was saying, she'd mentioned at the beginning that what they were learning this lesson was almost certain to show up on the end of year exam. It was hard though to keep her attention on the lesson when she could feel the stairs of half the class, rumours had spread through the school pretty quickly about why the police were there. It hadn't taken people long to find out the truth, the grapevine in this school was something for any outsider to envy. She could see people whispering, gesturing toward her, staring, it made her feel incredibly uncomfortable, especially when she knew most of them thought she had taken the drugs willingly.

She shook off the uncomfortable feeling for the millionth time in the last few days and tried to focus on the Professor. It was hard to block out everyone else but she had to try, she was going to have to get used to this. She had a new respect for Teyla, her friend had been putting up with this since before Christmas, ever since Mathos had attacked her and she had gotten him arrested. People stared at her with hate, a lot worse than what she was getting; they whispered about her, insulted her behind her back and to her face. Laura had never realised how hard it had been for Teyla and she couldn't understand how she had learned to live with it, maybe she should ask her.

She managed to make a few notes; she'd been borrowing Janet's all week so she could make her own away from the lessons, away from the other students where she could concentrate. Janet would have no problem lending her notes for this lesson either but she thought she should at least try to make some notes herself. Althwaite finally called the lesson to an end, giving them homework and dismissing them, Laura didn't feel relieved by that. She had history next and it would be the same there as it was here, she would still have to listen to the whispers, feel the stairs.

She put most of her things in her bag and through it over her shoulder grabbing her file folder and the text book from the desk. They were too big to fit in her bag, Janet kept telling her she should buy a new one, a bigger one, she should probably do that at some point, her school bag was no good if she couldn't fit her school stuff in it. She left the room with Janet and Marcus, ignoring the two girls and the guy in the corner who were pointing to her as they whispered.

She was barely through the door when something hit her folder hard enough to knock it and the book out of her hands. They both fell to the floor, several papers coming loose from the file and fluttering to the floor in a mess. She looked up at the guy who had knocked them from her hands, he was a big guy, not as big as Ronon and Teal'c but she wouldn't want to pick a fight with him.

"What the hell," she exclaimed.

"Guess you should watch where you're going," he replied smugly and Laura could see the two girls and the boy from the classroom that had been pointing at her, they were laughing now.

"Maybe you should watch where you're going," she returned angrily which only seemed to make him angry as well.

He stared at her with hateful, disgusted brown eyes, for a second she felt like dirt he had washed off his favourite shoes. The feeling served to dampen her usual attitude, her desire to fight back against people like him. Instead she bent down to start picking up her papers, gathering them together; she reached for one only for the guy to step on it preventing her from moving it. She sighed, felt the fire return and glared up at him.

"Do you think you could move your foot?" she questioned in annoyance, she wasn't going to start a fight but she wasn't going to be victimised either. He twisted his foot, partially screwing up the page and smearing dirt onto it from his shoe before he moved it.

"What the hell is wrong with you," Janet said as she knelt beside Laura and helped her pick up her papers.

"I don't tolerate drug addicts, you people make me sick," he said in disgust and then locked eyes with Janet. "And you're no better, befriending a druggy."

"She's not a drug addict," Marcus said as he moved to stand in between the student and the two girls. "Her drink was spiked; she didn't take the drugs willingly."

"So she says but if you want to know what I think..." the student began.

"I don't," Marcus cut in but the guy continued as though Marcus hadn't even spoken.

"She's been taking drugs, she got stupid and got caught so now she's claiming she her drink was spiked. She's the worst kind of drug addict, she can't even admit to taking them when she'd been caught red handed, she has to blame someone else. No one else has come forward about being spiked, they wouldn't just go after her, she's lying," the guy told them and Laura could see Marcus's fist clenching by his side.

"She wasn't the only one," Marcus said through gritted teeth.

"Oh you mean that other girl, Elizabeth Weir," the boy said not waiting for a response before continuing. "Probably in on it too, they probably sit their taking the drugs together having a good laugh at the people trying to find this phantom drinks spiker."

Marcus tightened his fist even more and from where she was kneeling Laura could see the tight set of his jaw. He was a man on the verge of doing something he'd regret later, Laura stood up quickly and stepped forward grabbing Marcus's arm. "He's not worth it, come on," she told him. As much as she wanted to smack this guy herself she wasn't about to get herself in trouble for him and she wasn't going let Marcus do it either. She gave his arm a tug when he didn't move and a second later he finally broke eye contact with the guy. He put a hand on Laura's back, a silent signal for her to leave in front of him and she let him get away with the protective gesture.

She fell in step beside Janet, taking the papers her friend had gathered for her and putting them back in the file, she'd have to sort them back into order later. It wasn't fair that she had to go through this, that her friend had to go through this, none of them had done anything wrong, they hadn't done anything to deserve this kind of treatment.

* * *

Jack was doubly glad he had kept the fact that he too had been spiked twice to himself. Laura had told the group about the confrontation she'd had with another student that morning, the way he had treated her. It was precisely for that reason that he didn't want to say anything, something like this changed everything, the way people looked at you, spoke to you. If they weren't giving you their pity then they were giving you hate, it was almost as bad if they believed you as if they didn't and he didn't want to have to deal with that. There was no way he was admitting to it, they'd catch whoever was doing it through Laura and he could keep this to himself, no one ever had to know.

"I can't believe how stupid some people can be," Elizabeth said in annoyance.

"Yeah, well right after that he brought you into it to. By the way Elizabeth, you're a drug addict who hangs out with Laura, getting high and laughing at the people who think they're trying to help you," Marcus told her, his anger from the incident was obviously still present and Jack had to wonder how mad he'd been at the time to still be this wound up now.

"Are you kidding?" John questioned, his own anger making an appearance now and despite the situation Jack had to resist the urge to smile, of course that would make John mad, he was incredibly protective of Elizabeth.

"Do I look like I'm kidding?" Lorne replied incredulously, he didn't need an answer.

"Who do these people think they are, they don't know anything about the situation, they have no right to judge," Janet stated, the brunette was still fuming as well. Tempers were high at the moment, everyone was angry, at the situation, at the other students who, like Janet had said, had no right to judge a situation they knew nothing about, at the police who had spent most of the last few days questioning them with suspicion, at everything.

"Let's just talk about something else," Elizabeth suggested rubbing her forehead and leaning back in her chair.

"Fine, anyone got any ideas?" Laura replied and the group looked at each other for a minute before Rodney finally spoke up.

"I got full marks on my Potions exam," he stated and there was a collective sigh throughout the group.

"Something else," Laura said ignoring the look Rodney gave her.

"The January sales finish this week," Teyla stated which got the attention of every one of the girls at the table. Jack resisted the urge to groan, he knew where this was going. Marcus said something about picking something else to talk about but the girls were already lost in their conversation, in fact they were already deciding which day they were going to go shopping on.

* * *

Elizabeth made notes in her pad of paper, writing down a very summarised version of what she was reading from the three inch thick library book. The book was huge and incredibly heavy; John had taken it off her halfway down the stairs from the floor where they'd picked it up and she hadn't protested about it, her arms had already been aching. They'd been there for over an hour now and Elizabeth was surprised that John had actually managed to concentrate for that amount of time but his focus was starting to waver now.

"Jack's been acting weird this week, don't you think?" he mused quietly his gaze on the nearby bookshelf. His eyes absently looking over the books, he wouldn't be able to read the titles from where he was but anyone watching him would think that's what he was doing.

"A little but given everything that's happened recently that's not necessarily something to worry about," she replied. Jack had been acting kind of strange recently, people had mentioned it a few times but then everyone had been completely thrown by her and Laura being drugged, more so by Laura being drugged a second time. Now they had to put up with whispers and the staring, she and Laura had been called some pretty horrible names and had more than their fair share of run ins with the other students. Life had been turned upside down on them all over again; it wasn't all that strange for some of them to be feeling the strain of it.

As if sensing Elizabeth's thoughts and recognising its cue a bag hit the back of Elizabeth's head, a student purposely brushing passed her on his way to the stairs. She wondered if the guy was carrying bricks, whatever was in that bag that had hit her was hard enough to knock her forward. Her hands instinctively went to the table to steady herself though her head never came near it, it hurt but she was more startled than anything else.

"Hey," John said standing up and raising his voice.

"Oops," the student replied with a shrug and a smug smile. John walked around the table as Elizabeth put a hand to the back of her head, rubbing at where the bag had hit her, really, what the hell did he have in there?

"Oops?" John questioned in annoyance. "How about an apology?"

"I don't apologise to low lives like her," the student stated and Elizabeth sighed, closing her eyes for a second to get a hold of the torrent of annoyance and self pity she felt before standing up and turning around.

"I really think you should apologise to the lady," John stated before Elizabeth could cut into the conversation, the threat was clear. She didn't have to look at him to know he was angry, she could hear it in his voice, Marcus had sounded the same when Laura had told them about the confrontation outside sociology. The guys in their group were a protective bunch, for the most part the girls didn't need it but for the most part they let them get away with it too.

"She doesn't deserve an apology, she's a drug addict and a liar, the sooner the school figures that out and kicks her out the better, her and her drug addict friend," the student said, anger and disgust coming off him in waves. Elizabeth decided to step in there, if she let this go any further John was going to hit him, he was pretty close as it was.

"John, just let it go," she told him and the student snorted, muttering something under his breath. Elizabeth turned to him, keeping her own anger in check, it was no good stopping John from doing something stupid just to go and do it herself. "I don't know who you are and I don't care but don't think that you can judge me, my friend or our situation when you know nothing about it. I don't care if you believe what we say or not but if you're going to be a coward and hit girls over the back of the head as you walk passed them then go and do it to someone who might actually be intimidated by it and stop wasting my time."

In truth she wanted to curl up in her room and cry, after almost a week of being treated like nothing more than a pathetic rodent that had stumbled into the school grounds she could admit to herself that it was starting to wear her down. She'd had more than enough of cowards like this guy making her life miserable. She and Laura had been hit over the back of the head, knocked over in the corridors, had their books knocked out of their hands, their things stepped on and half a dozen other things, all because of something people thought she might have done but couldn't prove. As much as she was starting to wear down from it all she wasn't going to show it, she wasn't going to let these people think they were starting to win.

The student looked slightly taken aback, he hadn't been expecting her to talk back to him, none of them ever did. He gave her a hateful glare but it had lost some of its confidence, he turned and left and from the look on John's face he half wanted to go after him and make him give that apology. She put a hand on his arm, taking his attention away from the retreating student to her before he could convince himself to go.

"Just let it go," she told him meeting his eyes and after a moment he nodded, they both sat back down but Elizabeth couldn't get her concentration back.

"They shouldn't be able to get away with this," John said, Elizabeth could feel the annoyance still coming from him.

"But they can, it's nothing worse than what Teyla had to go through after Mathos, still goes through some days, we'll just have to live with it for now, it'll be fine" she told him and he looked at her for a moment studying her with a concerned, disbelieving expression. "What?" she questioned when she'd had enough of trying to guess what was going on his head.

"Nothing," he said looking down at the paper he'd given up writing on. She stared at him expectantly waiting for him to notice and change his answer. "Fine," he said when he finally met her gaze again. "You look tired, I don't just mean... physically tired, it's all wearing you down, I can tell."

It was scary that she'd just been thinking the same thing though she thought she'd managed to hide it fairly well, apparently not well enough. "A lot's been happening, it's hard to manage all of it," she told him.

"How much do you remember about ...being drugged, I mean I know you said you don't remember much but what do you remember?" he asked her and she thought for a moment, both about the answer and whether or not she wanted to tell him it.

"Flashes, not much else," she told him with a shrug, brushing off the issue as though it was nothing. He was still looking at her with that disbelieving expression, searching her face for some sign of the truth and she looked away trying to keep it from him.

"Come on Elizabeth, you remember something, you know you can trust me," he said. She looked at him hesitantly, meeting his eyes; she did trust him, that wasn't in question. She looked away again, her eyes finding a spot on the table and gluing to it, she sighed.

"I remember..." she began, she'd only put words to all of this once, to the Police and Morlin and even then it had been with prompting, unfriendly, almost cruel prompting but prompting nonetheless. Just explaining it all from what little she could remember seemed a lot harder. "Everything was really... intense. Lights were too bright, noise was too loud, the room seemed twice as crowded and everything felt like it was closer than it was, like it was right in front of me when it was several feet away. I remember feeling really... carefree, like nothing mattered, I felt so... light."

"Quiet in here," the librarian said as she seemed to appear out of nowhere and then disappear again. She hadn't even thought they'd been talking so loud but then Radek and Rodney had been in here earlier and they'd warned them that the librarian was apparently in a mood today and taking it out on the students, she wasn't a very nice woman to begin with.

"Do you remember anything you did?" he asked her.

"Just flashes really, I remember falling, I remember reaching for something that I couldn't get to, I remember walking thought the forest, being carried actually," she told him and then braced herself against the rest of the memories, she hadn't mean to tell him this much but now that the floodgates were open she couldn't stop, as though it had needed to come out, to just be said. "Then I remember pain, a lot of it. I remember feeling like I was on fire one moment and freezing cold the next. I remember feeling like I needed to crawl out of my skin, to get out of it."

She was staring absently at the table, letting herself get too lost in memories she'd rather just forget but at the same time clung too. "I hate it, not knowing, not being able to remember, do you know what it's like to know something happened to you but not being able to remember it, to have the memories taken away from you?"

John was silent and she wished she could take back everything she'd said, she'd never meant to say that much. She kept her gaze on the table, forcing it to stay there as she heard John shift in his chair. "And then you have idiots like him accusing you of doing it all willingly."

She finally looked up at met his gaze relieved to find that there was no judgement, no pity, sympathy maybe but that she could handle. It made her feel more confident in what she was going to say next. "The worst part is, I can understand how people can get addicted to it. The after effects are horrible but the feelings you get before, the light care free feeling, the overly joyful glee, all of it... I can understand why that would draw some people in."

"But you're not one of them," John stated and Elizabeth smiled slightly and shook her head.

"No, I'm definitely not and neither is Laura," she replied glancing in the direction the other student had gone, she couldn't see him but there were two student sitting at one of the other tables whispering and pointing in her direction.

"I will not tell you again," the librarian said making Elizabeth jump, she was one stealthy woman; she had to get her credit for that. "Keep your voices down or I will kick you both out." The woman walked away muttering about ignorant students and their lack of respect. She went to one of the nearby tables where she'd left a pile of books earlier and started sorting through them making more noise as she dropped the books into various piles than John and Elizabeth had made since they'd gotten there. John scrunched up a piece of paper, Elizabeth's eyes widened when she realised what he was going to do and she grabbed his arm in mid air.

"Don't worry, I'm not gonna hit her with it," he told her and she reluctantly let go of his arm. He threw it, aiming it not at her but above her. It flew over her head and hit the pile of books bouncing onto the table in front of her. She looked up, her eyes darting around the room trying to find the culprit that had thrown it, ready to give them an earful and probably drag them to the Principle.

"John," Elizabeth chastised, pen in her hand and her head down.

"What, she was being rude," John defended.

"And throwing paper at her isn't?" Elizabeth questioned with an incredulous raised eyebrow.

"I threw it near her not at her and now she'll spend the next half hour trying to figure out who threw it and watching out for anything else being thrown her way, justice is served," he told her and though she knew she shouldn't find it funny she couldn't quite hide her amused smile, one John returned with a grin. The librarian was looking at everyone suspiciously, unable to see who the guilty party was and sitting back down slowly, every few seconds her eyes came up and warily scanned the room again. Elizabeth had to bite back a smile each time she did it and since she wasn't going to get anymore work done today she decided it would be best if she and John left before one of them gave something away.

* * *

He left the cafeteria after another job well done, the young red head was just about ready now, this would probably be the last time he'd have to spike her drink. After today he should be able to approach her, he'd offer the drugs, carefully but he'd offer them, she was so worn down now, her spirit was just about broken and though she'd be reluctant, she'd fight it at first in the end she'd accept the offer. She had been one of his more difficult targets, not the worst but not an easy one, he'd have earned himself a good pat on the back when this came through.

Still, he had to be careful, the police were snooping around now and it would be a hell of a lot easier for him to get caught. Not to mention it was making his clients a little skittish, he was going to have to keep a closer eye on them, when these people got scared they got stupid and that's when they were going to get themselves and him caught.

He knew this business, he knew how it worked and he knew the people, the other suppliers, the addicts, the people above him and below him in this food chain. They were the same, always the same and knowing them as well as he did made him better at this than most anyone else. It wasn't his pride talking, he wasn't being big headed, it was simply a fact, he was good at this, damn good at it.

"It was you wasn't it," a voice said from behind him and he turned around to see Kolya standing there. "You're the one, you spiked Cadman and Weir."

"What makes you say that?" he questioned.

"It's your style, hiding in the shadows, cowardly if you ask me," Kolya stated and he had to suppress a laugh.

"Cowardly, no it's not cowardly, it has its own risks but it's definitely the smart way. If you stick to the shadows you're far safer than if you run around in the open, out there you're far more likely to get shot," he stated and kept his smile in check as the smug look left Kolya's face, replaced instead by annoyance.

"They'll find you and when they do, look for my face in the crowd of people watching," Kolya said and then walked away. He knew Kolya wouldn't actually say anything to the police, even he followed that code of honour among criminals, you don't rat each other out unless they've committed a crime worse than you and even then it was only for certain crimes. It didn't make him feel much better about having that man walking around knowing that he was the guy the police were looking for, the idiot could very easily let something slip to the wrong person or where the wrong person could hear it. He'd have to keep and eye on him too, sometimes he had to wonder if all this work was worth the profits he made.

TBC


	15. Chapter 15

**Saphire – **People can be horrible especially if they thing you've done something they don't agree with and unfortunately they presume too easily as well, now Elizabeth and Laura are on the receiving end. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Belanna30 – **Thanks for the review, I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter and I hope you enjoy this one too.

**Bunnylass – **Some people really are narrow minded and they assume things to easily. I kinda wish Marcus had hit the guy too but then he would have gotten in trouble. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Steph – **Kolya really is a bad ass, thanks for the review.

**Kuroima – **The stargate guys really are a protective bunch, in the show as well my fics lol but the girls can so kick ass on their own. I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter, thanks for the review.

* * *

Chapter 15

Laura ignored the jab Rodney made at her intelligence level, she'd get him back for it later when he was least expecting it. She left the table and walked out of the cafeteria making her way to the dorms to get her books for lessons that afternoon. She could do with the fresh air anyway, she wasn't feeling all that well, she felt light headed, dizzy. Pretending she didn't notice the student to her left who was shouting childish names at her she continued toward the dorms. She nearly tripped over her own feet, her left foot catching on her right mid step and she was only just able to catch herself before she fell.

"Are you alright?" a voice asked her and she straightened herself up to see another student, a senior by the look of her.

"Yeah, thanks," she replied, the woman nodded and went on her way. Laura smiled slightly; it was nice to know the entire student body didn't hate her. As much as she pretended the constant hateful glares, insults and confrontations didn't bother her, the truth was they did, it would make anyone feel pretty crap after a while.

When she reached her room she unlocked the door, some students were pretty lax when it came to security, theft was almost unheard of at Pegasus so many students didn't always lock their rooms. Since Laura had been drugged she and Janet had been keeping the room locked at all times. She dropped her keys on the desk, putting her bag on the floor next to it as she went to sit on the bed.

She was starting to feel shaky and despite how bad she'd been feeling for the last few weeks she was now feeling a sense of freedom. It was like all of her worries; everything that had been making her life hell was just melting away. She felt like a huge weight had been lifted from all her shoulders. It was a feeling she was becoming all too familiar with, the first and second time she hadn't known what it was but now she knew. She dropped her head into her hands hoping she was wrong and knowing that she wasn't.

Allinyas.

She'd been careful damn it. She'd kept an eye on her food and drinks; hadn't left anything lying around, how could they have gotten to her again? It wasn't fair, she didn't deserve this, she had done absolutely nothing to warrant somebody doing this to her. She hated even more that she couldn't bring herself to be truly upset about it, in fact she could feel that carefree giddiness rising up to swallow what little anger and upset she had managed to grab hold of.

She needed to go and get help, Janet and the others were all still in the cafeteria, if she could just get to them then they could help her. As much as she hated needing help, hated looking so weak in front of people whose opinions mattered to her, hated them seeing her in this state, she knew she had to get help.

* * *

"Jack, one of these days you're gonna turn into a cake," Daniel said as Jack returned to the table with a slice of cake. Jack looked thoughtful for a moment and then grinned at the prospect, shrugging and making a comment about there being worse fates.

"You do realise there's only five minutes left of lunch right? Sam questioned as she glanced at the clock. "And then we have to be in lessons."

"And you this thing would last me longer than that?" Jack asked incredulously.

A thought hit Marcus as he watched his friends, he looked around and realised for the first time that Laura wasn't there. She'd been gone half an hour, there was no way she should still be gone, she'd only gone to get her books for the afternoon. The rest of the group were gathering their things, getting ready for afternoon lessons, except for Jack who was finishing the last bite of his cake.

"Laura isn't back," Marcus stated bringing everyone to a stand still, realisation washed over the group like a wave.

"How the hell did we not notice that?" Janet questioned furiously. With everything that was going on, everything that had happened they should have been far more observant than that.

"I don't know but I'm gonna go find her," Marcus stated grabbing his coat and bag before heading toward the doors Laura had disappeared through earlier.

"Hold on, I'm coming with you," Janet said grabbing her own things before running to catch up with him. "You'll probably need my key anyway," she told him already fishing around in her bag for it.

"Let us know if there's a problem," Kate called after them. Marcus and Janet left the cafeteria and headed toward the dorms, cutting across the grass instead of sticking to the paths. When they got to Janet's room they found the door already unlocked.

"That's weird, we've been keeping the door locked whether we're in the room or not," Janet stated opening the door slowly. The scene that greeted them left them in no doubt as to why Laura hadn't come back to the cafeteria. The room was a mess, things had been knocked over and in the middle of a pile of messed up papers sat Laura. She grinned up at them as they walked into the room, reaching her hands up like a child reaching for her parents.

"My friends," she exclaimed, laughing giddily.

"Not again," Janet sighed as Laura lost her balance and toppled over backwards laughing at herself. Janet walked over and sat her up again, being pulled into an enthusiastic hug. She waited for Laura to release her before she got the blonde onto her feet despite Laura's protests that she wanted to stay on the floor, Janet had the patience of a saint sometimes. "How the hell do they keep getting to her without us seeing them?"

Marcus shook his head, he didn't have an answer, if he did he'd be able to stop them from doing this to her. He helped Janet support Laura who was still insistent that she wanted to sit down and Marcus decided it would be best if they got her to the infirmary before she blew anything up; she seemed to be good at that.

"Infirmary?" Janet questioned.

"Yeah."

They left the room and made their way out of the dorms, ignoring the looks they got from the few students who passed by. They'd barely left the dorm building when a student stepped in front of them; it took Marcus less than a second to recognise him as the same student who had knocked Laura's books out of her hands outside sociology. He was blocking their path and Marcus was only just able to keep his ager in check. They tried to go around him but he followed their steps, staying in their way.

"Drug addict at it again huh?" he questioned and Laura took most of her own weight again, straightening up to glare at the student. "I don't like you," she told him waving her hands around at him and Marcus knew where this was heading, when she was drugged things she didn't like tended to get blown up.

"Just get out of the way," Marcus ordered as Janet stilled Laura's hands probably having come to the same conclusion he had.

"Just leave her, jus let her lie around on the floor like the worthless addict she is," the student spat out in disgust and Marcus let go of Laura, squaring up to the student.

"Marcus," Janet said quickly, he continued to stare down the ass who thought he knew it all. "We have to get Laura to the infirmary, just ignore him."

Reluctantly Marcus backed down but Laura had other plans, she shrugged Janet off her and strode over to the other student, her fist flying toward his face. Marcus caught it in mid air, the last thing she needed was to get in trouble for assaulting a fellow student, she had enough to deal with and he had no doubt this guy would press for criminal charges. Laura wasn't happy about it but he hadn't expected her to be, with an arm around her waist he pulled her away from the confrontation and Janet stepped forward instead.

"Get out of the way or I'll let her blow you up," she told him with a glare but the guy didn't move. "I'm going passed you whether you like it or not, you'll have to knock me out to stop me and then you won't be able to be so high and mighty anymore, hurting a girl who hadn't done anything wrong."

The guy grudgingly stepped back and allowed them to pass, glaring at them hatefully as they did so. Marcus ignored it, Janet was right; they needed to get Laura to the infirmary, that had to be the priority.

* * *

Vala could honestly say she was sick of the sight of the police, she'd seen enough of them after the Colbrun incident and this was the second time she'd had to see them over her friends being drugged. Why couldn't they just have a normal term at school, one where there was no need for the police and none of them were placed in danger? She really did feel bad for Elizabeth and Laura, the two of them didn't deserve this, they were two of the greatest people she'd ever met and to see how the other students were treating them made her mad enough that she wanted to go and kick all their asses.

At least this time they were being questioned together instead of individually, it helped to take some of the pressure off. The two police officers were still looking at everyone with suspicious eyes; it seemed that all of them were still suspects. Vala could understand that, they had a job to do and it involved looking into all possibilities and she supposed it was a possibility that one of them were the guilty party.

"And no one saw anyone go near her food or her drinks?" Officer Talii questioned receiving several shaking heads in response.

"Don't you think we would have said something if we had?" Jack questioned in annoyance, he appeared to be the most annoyed out of the group which wasn't all that surprising considering he was one of the biggest suspects along with Laura and Elizabeth themselves. He'd disappeared the night the two girls had been drugged, been missing for hours until they'd found him sleeping in an alley and for whatever reason that painted a big suspects sign on him.

"I don't know Mr O'Neill, would you?" Talii questioned and Vala could actually see the restraint Jack had to use to keep from getting up out of his chair and causing a real scene.

"How long was Miss Cadman missing before you found her?" Bell asked looking up from the pad of paper he'd been making notes on.

"Half an hour," Marcus replied drawing the two officer's attention to the opposite side of the semi circle they'd all been sat in giving Jack a chance to cool down before the really tough questions started, before accusation were thrown around. "She left the cafeteria to get her books for the afternoon and then didn't come back."

"And you found her in her room under the influence of Allinyas?" Bell questioned and Marcus nodded. Bell wrote something down that seemed to be a little longer than Marcus's answer would have needed. He nudged Talii and tapped his pen on the paper bringing his colleagues attention to whatever he'd written.

"Are you aware that Allinyas takes twenty minutes to take affect?" he questioned, several people shook their heads, Janet and Carson were nodding theirs.

"What's your point?" Janet asked her eyes narrowed at the officer in a glare; she knew what the answer as already.

"That it's entirely possible Miss Cadman took the drugs herself, the time would fit," Talii told them. Janet and Marcus were both on their feet protesting in less than a second and Vala gave the two officers credit for not backing off right there and then. "Sit down," Talii ordered his tone full of authority and Janet and Marcus both reluctantly took their seats again. "Now, Miss Cadman excused herself from the group, went to her room where she was alone and was then found under the influence, it seems to me that it's more than possible she took those drugs herself."

"She wouldn't," Janet protested but Talii ignored it instead turning accusing eyes on Elizabeth.

"Now Miss Weir," he began "Where were you at the time?"

Elizabeth glared at the accusation but otherwise kept calm, her gaze and her voice were even. "In the cafeteria."

"You were not with Miss Cadman when she left?"

"No," she told him firmly, "I never left the cafeteria and I didn't take any drugs," she stated answering the accusation before it could actually be made instead of just insinuated.

"And you didn't go near Miss Cadman's food or drinks?"

"No," Elizabeth said again, there was more anger in her voice this time but she kept it in check. It was no wonder almost the entire school thought Laura and Elizabeth were drug addicts, that was evidently the police's main line of inquiry. Talii sat back in his chair with a sigh, tapping his fingers on his knee as though he was getting annoyed with the circle of students around him.

"So what we're saying here is, Miss Cadman has been drugged three times, Miss Weir just the once by a member of the school community who has also followed you outside of school grounds in order to drug two girls. He'd be wasting his or her supply, using up drugs they could sell far more easily and actually earn some money for them. They've never once been seen by anyone despite how close they would have to get to be able to drug Miss Cadman's and Miss Weir's food or drinks," Talii summed up and when he put it like that, with the incredulous voice thrown in there Vala could almost see why no one believed them.

"That's exactly what we're saying," Vala replied anyway.

* * *

Since Janet was currently being questioned by police Carson had volunteered to come down to the infirmary and sit with Laura. He'd found her giving the nurses a hard time, refusing to stay in bed and cursing like the world was about to end. He smiled as the nurse threatened to sedate her and strap her to the bed before walking off cursing under her breath worse than Laura had been. He stepped passed the half drawn curtain and she finally noticed he was there.

"What's going on?" she asked him immediately, he took the chair next to her bed instead of answering her straight away. She looked exhausted, worse than she'd looked before this point, she was pale, her eyes were blood shot and her hands were shaking slightly. She was still going through withdrawal from Allinyas, she was probably in a fair amount of pain, her head would feel like it was going to explode and nausea was probably one of the few things preventing her from actually making good on her threats to get up and leave the infirmary.

"The police are here again, we were all questioned together but they wanted to speak to some people individually as well," Carson explained and Laura nodded her head slowly.

"Who are they still talking to?" she questioned.

"Elizabeth, Jack and Janet," he told her.

"Why Janet?" she asked in surprised concern, sitting up straight on the bed.

"Because she's your room mate and she has complete access to all of your things," Carson explained. "Apparently that's reason enough to move her up the suspect list, she's right up there with you, Jack and Elizabeth."

"That's fantastic," Laura sighed sarcastically. "I'm telling you, when I get hold of whoever did this I'm going to kill them. It's gonna be slow and agonisingly painful and they'll wish they'd never even looked at me never mind drugged me."

Carson sat back as Laura explained in graphic detail what she planned to do to whoever was responsible for this and despite his aversion to hurting people he thought whoever had done all of this was getting off easy. Laura continued to vent her anger and Carson was silent the whole time, he doubted she was even aware that she was rambling on. She eventually ran out of steam, her temporary boost of energy drained out of her and she took a deep breath, sighing with exhaustion and frustration.

"We'll find out who is doing all of this," Carson assured her putting a hand on her arm. "They won't get away with it."

"They've done a good job of it so far," she replied tiredly and Carson moved to sit on the edge of the bed.

"You're tired, why don't you get some sleep, the police should be finished with Janet and the others by the time you wake up, you'll be able to talk to them," he suggested and she looked like she wanted to protest, her mouth opened but she obviously changed her mind and closed it again. She nodded her head and he stood up to let her lay down. He pulled the sheet over her properly and sat back in the chair, at the very least he would be here when she woke up.

The nurse came back over and looked surprised to find Laura already asleep. "I don't know how you managed that; I couldn't even get her to stay in the bed."

Carson smiled "How is she?"

"The drugs are starting to take a toll on her but she should be fine, we'll be releasing her later today if she doesn't exacerbate her condition by trying to fight everything we do," the nurse told him and Carson nodded, he couldn't really guarantee that Laura would start being a good patient.

* * *

Laura was a little nervous; she had no idea why Morlin would have called her and Elizabeth to her office. They'd already been questioned both by the police and guard patrol, neither of them had anything more to tell them. They waited patiently in the waiting area outside the Principle's office, their nerves growing. There had been rumours going around for the last two days, ever since the third drugging incident about punishments, the most common being that Morlin was planning on expelling them both from the school. She knew better than to listen to rumours, especially ones started by people who had already proven they knew nothing about the crap they talked about but she couldn't help but worry about it now.

"Stop fidgeting, you're making me nervous," Elizabeth half whispered and Laura only just realised she'd been wringing her hands together in her lap; she forced them to stay still, putting them down flat on her knees.

"You're already nervous," Laura replied and Elizabeth smiled slightly, the nervousness in the gesture only confirming what she'd said.

"Fine, you're making me worse," Elizabeth corrected and Laura returned her smile. The door to Morlin's office opened and the Principle's personal assistant walked out, Laura felt the knot in her stomach tighten.

"You can go in now," she told them. The two girls stood up and almost hesitantly walked through the door into the office, the assistant closing it behind them with a thud. Morlin was sat behind her desk, there was someone else here too, Laura didn't recognise him but he looked like another student.

"Miss Cadman, Miss Weir, thank you for coming," Morlin began, her voice holding a little more friendliness than they'd gotten used to. It completely threw Laura off and only served to make her feel even less comfortable than she already did. It didn't help that the guy occupying one of the chairs in the room, the other student, looked nervous and uncomfortable as well. "This is Ben Dolan, he's one of our fourth year students, he came to me and told me something I thought the two of you might like to know about."

They both stood there, a tense silence filling the room as they waited for Morlin to continue. The Principle didn't say anything; instead she glanced at Ben, a silent gesture for him to tell them himself. "I was drugged as well, in the same way you were, somebody has been spiking my food and drinks, they've done it twice now."

Laura didn't know what to feel at that moment, she was relieved even though she knew it was at Ben's expense. She was grateful that he'd come forward but also infuriated that he had waited this long to do it.

"Why have you waited until now?" Elizabeth asked, her thoughts obviously going along the same line as Laura's.

"Look at how everyone has treated you, I didn't want that but then I was drugged a second time a few days ago and then I heard that one of you had been drugged again as well and I knew I couldn't keep quiet about it anymore," he told them and Laura sighed, she could understand his reasoning, part of her had been wishing she could go back in time and make sure the school and the police had never gotten involved, so far all it had done was turn her life into a nightmare.

"So what does this mean?" Laura questioned "Do you believe us now?"

"I'll admit that this most certainly goes a long way to supporting your story but that does not entirely exclude the possibility that you or one of your friends is responsible. I'm going to contact the police and let them know of this latest development, I'm sure they'll wish to speak to you all at some point," Morlin informed them, dismissing them from the office. Laura sighed; finally, the police would have to listen to them now.

TBC


	16. Chapter 16

**WhatATragicComedy – **At least he came forward which means the girls have more of a chance at getting this guy stopped. As for Jack...pride will get you every time.

**Belanna30 – **In my opinion people are usually too wrapped up in their own business to notice things happening to others. Anyone good enough, patient enough can get away with a hell of a lot without being caught. That's why I love the bad guy in this so much, he's very cold and calculated, he understands people in a pretty dark way. I hope you enjoy this chapter, thanks for the review.

**Steph – **Better late than never lol, thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Kuro – **I'm glad you like the bit about Jack turning into cake, I love writing him with a passion for cake lol. Thanks for the review.

**Saphire – **Poor Laura indeed and things don't get any better for her in this chapter, in fact I think they get worse lol. I'm so mean sometimes. I don't think Sparkly will do it either, the sparky is coming, just give me a few more chapters and you'll get to see the good stuff, I promise. I'm gonna go repeat all this in her review reply now lol. Thanks for the review.

**Bunnylass – **Laura is a very strong person but things are going to start taking their toll on her now, like you said, people can only take so much. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Sparkly – **Thanks for the review. I wish I could have seen your sister's reaction to the mean people in my story, I'll bet it was entertaining. The evidence they're telling the truth is beginning to mount up but they're not off the suspect list yet. Sparky is coming, the good stuff is almost here, I promise, just stick with me a little longer lol.

* * *

Chapter 16

Cameron had a feeling it had been good for Laura and Elizabeth to get away from the school for a few hours. He'd been roped into the shopping trip by Vala but it had been good to see the two girls smile. The last few weeks had been hard on them, at times it had seemed like the whole school and the police had been against them but getting away from it had done some good. Things had improved since the other student had come forward, though the police were still considering it a possibility that he had simply taken advantage of the story Elizabeth and Laura had created to get out of any consequences there'd be for taking the drugs himself. A lot more people seemed to be on their side now though and it had made life a little easier.

They were both laughing now at how carried away Vala had gotten with her retail therapy. She'd done more shopping than the other two girls put together and Cameron couldn't be sure the shopping trip hadn't been more for her than them. She could be pretty shameless when it came to shopping and any excuse that presented itself was fair game, even her friends being drugged and then blamed for it.

"Do you two want to stop laughing and help me with these bags?" Vala questioned, she really had gone a little crazy on the shopping even for her.

"We have our own to carry," Laura pointed out lifting her hands which had a few far less heavy bags in them.

"Besides, Cameron is helping you," Elizabeth added with a nod in his direction. It was true, Cameron's hands were full of bags too and if he hadn't been as strong as he was he'd have struggled get them all back here.

"Spring is coming," Vala told them. "Which means I needed a new wardrobe, my winter clothes are going to be no good to me when it gets warmer. Just wait until Summer, my entire wardrobe will need replacing, hot weather means tank tops, skirts, shorts, shoes and various accessories to match them all, there's a lot of work goes into looking this good."

Laura and Elizabeth both laughed, rolling their eyes as they continued walking. The trees gave way to school grounds and they crossed the field toward the dorms. A student came running up to them, she was a third year who had given them a hard time about the drug issues and he hoped she wasn't about to do it again, not when they'd had such a good morning.

"Hi," she said as she came to a stop looking a little awkward. "Look, I'll just come right out and say it. I'm sorry; I shouldn't have made things so difficult, I guess I didn't really have a right to judge things I knew nothing about. For what it's worth I hope you catch whoever is doing this."

"Thanks," Elizabeth replied after a moment and Laura nodded her head. It wasn't the first apology the girls had gotten in the last few days and it probably wouldn't be the last, there had been a lot of students who thought they knew it all and in truth hadn't known a thing. The girl left then no doubt feeling better about herself, Laura and Elizabeth exchanged glances, even if they weren't getting blamed as much anymore there were still the constant reminders.

* * *

Vala threw the ball to Laura who immediately looked around her spotting the team mate to her right and seizing the chance to get the ball to her. The red head didn't manage to get the ball; instead it was intercepted by the blonde from the other team who had it away to another girl in just a few seconds. They were getting good, some of the second and third year Atala's had obviously been in the team last year, they knew what they were doing. The newbies to the team, Vala and Laura included were still learning though and it seemed they were gonna be a while before they were ready for the inter-guild competition. For now that wasn't a problem, they had several months left before the competition but they were going to need to practice more.

As it was they'd split the team in two, one half of the team facing off against the other and Laura and Vala were on the losing side. Vala decided it was supremely unfair because the other team had more experienced players on their side, her team had most of the newbies. She and Laura were the only first years on the entire team but there were two more girls from the second year and another from third who had also not been on the team before.

The other team scored again and Vala stopped in the middle of the netball court, hands on her hips as she sighed. The strand of hair that was lose from the ponytail and hanging on front of her face was blown upward landing right back over her face again a second later. This was hard work; these people clearly did not know she was very adverse to hard word. All the same they were counting on her now and she wasn't about to let them down, even if it meant she had to sweat while running around in shorts and tank top. They weren't bothering with uniforms yet, everyone needed to get them fitted and they were leaving that until nearer the competition. There were only another few minutes of the game left and even if they played amazingly for the rest of it they were still going to lose.

The ball flew across the court again, her team trying and failing to get it back before the end of the game was called and they lost miserably. With another sigh Vala wiped her forehead with the back of her arm and headed toward where she'd left her kit bag at the side of the hall. She liked that the netball court was inside the gym building, away from prying eyes and the cold but it did get rather warm in there. She found her bottle of water at the bottom of her bag, one of these days she was going to learn to put it near the top rather that just dumping everything in.

The water provided a welcome relief to her warm, tired and slightly aching body. Laura appeared next to her wiping her face and neck with the towel from her bag before she threw it over her shoulder and reached for her bottle of water, placed conveniently where she could reach it without having to spend five minutes searching for it.

"That was almost embarrassing," Laura laughed as she looked at the scores taking another drink of her water.

"There's no almost about it," Vala told her "We got our asses kicked."

"Alright, over here everyone," Lucinda called "She was the team captain, a fifth year senior Atala who'd been on the netball team for her entire five years at Pegasus. This was her last year at the school and thus her last year on the team and she was determined to make it a year that both the Senior and Junior teams won. The girls all gathered around her, some of them sitting on the floor with their waters bottles and others standing around, all of them looking exhausted. "We're getting better but we still have a long way to go if we want to win this year."

"And what would you have us do almighty captain?" one of the girls asked humorously.

Lucinda, good humoured girl that she was, smiled at the comment. "Well, my lowly plebs, I believe we need to get in some more training," she told them and there were a few groans through the group. "I know most of us have other areas of the competition to work on, some of them other sports but we have a good team here and a good shot at winning. One practice every week in addition to the Atala meetings we use as training already."

"You're gonna kill us," another of the girls stated, several others humming in agreement but no one protesting any further than that.

"One more game, let's make it a short one, then we'll call it a day," Lucinda stated. "I'm going to mix up the teams too. Melanie, Joanne and Claire switch teams with Jordan, Bev and Vala. Let's go."

"Ooo we're on opposite teams," Vala said to Laura as they pulled themselves up from the wooden floor.

"You're so going down," Laura told her and Vala grinned in response.

"We'll see."

* * *

The debate team were already pretty good, Daniel was sure they had a good chance of winning the junior debate competition but then he hadn't seen any of the other teams yet. This would obviously be his first inter-guild competition and he'd be lying if he said that didn't make him a little nervous. The competition was a long way off yet though and there was plenty of time to improve his debate skills or as Jack had so nicely called them, arguing skills.

He had a rough idea how it worked from their practices, two sides taking up opposing stances on whatever subject they were given. They had to argue their side whether they were told to be for or against, it didn't matter if they agreed with the stance they were given they just had to argue for it. There were a panel of judges, supposedly impartial but anyone with a brain had an opinion and that made them bias. Still, it was there job to decide which team had argued their views the best, been the most convincing. There were several rounds and in the end the two best teams would face off against each other to decide the winner.

Like most teams did when they were training, they'd split in half, one side facing the other. Right now the topic was whether the use of magic in everyday life was right or wrong. Both he and Elizabeth were on the side that were arguing it was wrong, a stance he mostly agreed with which worked in his favour.

"We have these gifts for a reason; it's a waste not to use them. If we weren't meant to use them we would never have been given them," the other team argued, they'd done a good job of expressing their opinions but then so had his team.

"But then how do you learn the value of things?" Elizabeth questioned, she was turning out to be pretty good at this, more than pretty good, Jeremy, the team leader, had more than once referred to her as their secret weapon. "If we can simply say a few magic words and whatever we want to have or do is taken care of for us then how can anyone be expected to learn the value of it."

"That is something for parents to teach their children, by the time they reach the age of magic they would already understand that," the other team stated.

"Children learn a lot and they learn it easily," Daniel began. "But there is a lot that they do not experience, that they are not exposed to until later in life. Even at the age of magic there is still a lot to be learned and experienced."

"Children have never had to work for a living; they don't know the struggle that comes from working for something. If they never have to face that struggle later in life then where is the value in it for them, what is to stop them from taking what they have for granted?" another member of his team questioned.

"Values are taught as much as they are gained from experience, if a child is taught how valuable things are at a young age then those lessons are not necessary later in life," a member of the other team stated, it was probably a statement they didn't agree with but they were arguing their point, that's what the debate team were all about.

"Being told something and experiencing it for yourself are two different things and they affect you differently," the boy on Daniel's right pointed out.

"Perhaps we could simply use a knowledge spell, give people the knowledge that things should be valued," Elizabeth said sarcastically. "The problem there is that knowledge has to be earned otherwise like everything else we don't know the value of it and also, we are not given the chance to understand it. If all the knowledge of alchemy were to be dropped into a person's head without them taking the time to learn and understand it bit by bit then how would they use it? They know that this does this and that does that but how can they apply that knowledge, to apply it we have to understand it and understanding takes time. That's why we learn things slowly, to give us time to understand it and at the same time we can learn everything else we need to know, it's what allows us to think creatively and come up with new ideas and solutions. Without understanding we would not be able to apply knowledge in the same way."

Daniel was fairly sure that had just won the argument for them, Jeremy, who was on his team, was grinning and the other team looked dumbfounded. Someone came around the group, replacing the glasses of water as always. A hand reached from behind Daniel and took his empty glass putting a full one in its place moving on to do the same for all the others. Daniel wasn't sure but he'd thought the person doing it that day had been wearing blue, the sleeve he'd seen earlier was blue but the one that had just done it was green. He shook his head, he had to focus on the debate not what colour the person handing the water glasses out was wearing when he was probably just getting it mixed up with another day, that's if his eyes hadn't been playing tricks on him and he'd only thought he'd seen two colours. He muttered a thank you before focusing on the debate, the other team had finally found a comeback, weak as it was but the argument had already been won.

The debate was called to an end a few minutes later and the two people who'd been playing judges announced his team the winners. There were several high fives and cheers through out the small group. Jeremy shook Elizabeth's hand once again informing her that she was their secret weapon, with her on the team they had a real good chance at winning.

* * *

It had happened enough times now for her to recognise the signs. They'd only been ten minutes into the game when she'd first felt something was wrong. At first she'd just thought she was tired, playing netball for over an hour would to that to you but as the game had gone on she's started to notice the other signs.

She slowed her run across the court until she came to a stop and bent over, her hands went to her thighs as she leaned forward trying not to feel nauseous. She was already sweating from the game but she was sure that not all of it was from the exercise now. Her body was shaking slightly, maybe not that noticeable to others but she could feel it and it was slowly getting worse. Her head felt light and she knew before long it was going to turn into a dizziness that would end with her stumbling about, unable to support her weight and acting like a drunk.

Vala ran to her side putting a hand on her back as she leaned over to see her. "Are you alright?"

"I gotta stop," Laura said her breathing heavy and shallow.

"What's wrong?" she questioned and Laura looked at her grimly.

"Allinyas," was all she had to say and Vala cursed under her breath angrily. She stood up straight and motioned for the other's to stop the game, some of them had already stopped playing having noticed something wrong.

"I'm taking her to the infirmary," Vala stated.

"She been drugged again?" one of the girls asked and though Laura couldn't be certain while she was half keeled over trying not to throw up, she thought the girl might have been elbowed in the ribs, the small yelp giving it away.

"I think so," Vala said urging Laura to start walking. Someone yelled something about taking their bags back to their rooms for them but Laura was too involved with her deteriorating mental state to pay any attention. Vala stopped as someone yelled to them and Laura vaguely registered their jackets being brought to them and Vala putting her own on and handing Laura's to her. She put it on remembering the cold outside and the two of them continued on their way.

The infirmary seemed like miles away and Laura could feel her balance leaving her long before they got there. Vala was helping her walk by the time they arrived and one of the nurses came dashing over.

"What's the problem?" she questioned, like she couldn't have guessed if she'd actually thought about it.

"I've been drugged again," Laura told her angrily and in an unusual twist Vala was the sensible voice.

"Someone spiked her with Allinyas again," she explained further. The nurse told them to follow her leading them over to one of the beds.

"If it gets bad call for one of the nurses, we may have to consider sedation if you become a problem," the nurse said and Laura glared at her, she was gonna start being a problem on purpose in a minute. "I need to speak to the doctor, I'll be right back."

* * *

Elizabeth put her hand to her head; she was feeling kinda dizzy and just a little bit nauseous. It had started not long after the debate had ended with her team winning and was gradually getting worse. Jeremy wanted to talk about strategies and what other topics people might like to practice their debate skills on but she couldn't focus on anything he was saying. It was going in one ear and out the other, her mind not able to hold onto the words long enough to process them.

She shook her head and stood up excusing herself from the group and walking out of the classroom. Daniel ran after her, catching up with her just as she walked through the door and though all she wanted to do was go to her room she stopped and turned to him.

"Daniel, I'm not feeling well," she told him "I'm just going to go and lay down for an hour."

"Maybe you should go and see one of the nurses," he suggested looking her over with concern.

"No, I'm fine, I just need to sleep for a bit," she replied and he looked about to comment further but she cut him off. "I'll be fine."

She turned and left before he could offer any protest, heading straight out of the main building and to her room in the dorms. Her head felt so light and as she sat down on her bed she realised she'd felt this before. The memory of it was vague but she knew this was the same thing, it felt exactly like it. She'd been drugged with Allinyas only once but with Laura's repeated druggings she knew enough about it to recognise it.

She'd been drugged again.

She'd been so vigilant since the first time, she'd never let anyone near her food or drink. Granted she'd loosened up on it a little bit but she was still pretty cautious about what she ate and drank, who she allowed anywhere near her food. It was so hard being constantly suspicious, ever watchful and it seemed that even with all the effort she'd put into it, it still hadn't been enough. She wanted to think, to figure out where she went wrong but she couldn't hold onto a thought long enough.

Standing up she moved over to the door, she should go to the infirmary, maybe they could do something for her there, at the very least they'd be able to make her more comfortable once the drugs began to clear out of her system. The last time had not been fun, it had been a horrible night that she would never forget for the rest of her life and if she could do anything to make it easier then she was going to do it. Her hand reached for the door handle and she paused, actually she wanted a drink. Teyla had a bottle of wine in the bottom of her wardrobe, she'd bought it a few weeks ago since it was part of a sale, the woman couldn't help herself when she saw a sale sign. She'd probably never even use it, probably didn't even remember it was there.

Instead of going to the infirmary which if she was honest sounded awfully boring she turned back into her bedroom. She opened the door to Teyla's wardrobe, the wine would be in there somewhere probably under the mountain of clothes that wouldn't fit on the hanger rail.

* * *

Teyla took a deep breath before she jumped for the bar, her hands gripping it as her body swung forward. She used the momentum to swing herself around her body doing a complete circle around the bar twice. She moved herself into position and swung her body once again this time letting go of the bar and propelling herself towards the second one, this one was higher up and she only just managed to get her fingers around it. She secured herself on the bar before she tried any tricks and then made a few circles once again letting go of the bar.

This time she twisted her body around in the air, her hands gripping the bar again but now she was facing the opposite way. She barely gave herself enough time to recover before she went back to the lower bar and did it again. She made it back to the top bar but once again it was a near miss, she was going to need to work on that. Letting go of the higher bar for the last time she spun her body around in the air before coming to a landing on the mat below, managing to stay on her feet. She regained her balance before she stood up straight, lifting her arms into the air in the usual pose to show she was done.

She took another deep breath, letting this one out in a relived sigh. There'd been a couple of close calls in that one. She moved off the mat so the next girl could practice on the bars and she saw Daniel standing near the door to the gym looking slightly stunned. She walked over to him wondering what the hell he was doing in the gymnastics room, she was sure he should be practicing his debate skills.

"Aren't you supposed to be arguing with people right now?" she questioned as she stopped in front of him.

Daniel pointed to the bars she's just come from. "How do you do that?"

"Practice," she told him flatly "What are you doing here?"

"Debate team called it a day five minutes ago. I actually came here because I'm worried about Elizabeth, she left practice early, she said she wasn't feeling well and to be honest she looked like hell," Daniel informed her and then bit his lip as if debating whether to continue. "She was fine one minute, she got unwell really fast."

Teyla had no trouble following his train of thought and she turned to Lorraine, the senior in charge of training the junior team. She called over to her that she was leaving, Lorraine didn't look happy about it but she nodded and Teyla turned back to Daniel.

"Just give me a minute to change," she said and grabbed her kit bag from the side of the gym heading through to the girls locker room. She didn't bother to shower, she could do that after she'd check on Elizabeth, she just changed from her gymnastics kit into her jeans and t-shirt, pulled on her boots and went back out to meet Daniel. They hurried out of the gym building and to the dorms where Elizabeth had said she was going.

They found Elizabeth sat on her bed with Teyla's wine bottle, it hadn't been opened but Elizabeth was knocking it around as though she'd forgotten how to open it. Since Elizabeth wasn't even a big drinker when they were in town for the night they could be pretty sure that she'd been drugged.

"Hi," she shouted cheerfully when she saw them "Can you open this, the cork won't come out."

"Yeah, well it'll probably fly out if we try to do it now," Teyla told her and took the wine bottle off her putting it down on the bedside table. "Come on, we need to take you to the infirmary."

"I don't want to go to the infirmary," she protested as Teyla dragged her off the bed. She shrugged her off and stood there with her arms folded swaying from side to side. "I don't want to."

"I know you don't want to but we just need to go have a chat with one of the nurses, then we can leave," Teyla lied, Elizabeth would have to stay there overnight but whatever she had to do to get her there she was damn well gonna do. She grabbed Elizabeth's arm and had her room mate not been drugged and lost most of her sense of balance she might have had a fight on her hands. She pulled her room mate toward the door, ignoring her attempts to struggle free.

"I don't want to go," she shouted and flung her hand out toward the door, it slammed shut with a thud that echoed painfully in Teyla's head and she made a mental note to check the door for actual damage later. Daniel opened the door again and stood in front of it so Elizabeth couldn't shut it again; Teyla just hoped she didn't slam Daniel out of the way instead. They passed him without incident though and Daniel caught up with them helping Teyla to drag Elizabeth along, opening doors along the way.

When they reached the infirmary a nurse came running over, the commotion Elizabeth was making having immediately drawn attention. It was a nurse Teyla recognised from Laura's many visits in here, she nodded to the look Teyla gave her understanding immediately what was wrong and taking the still protesting Elizabeth off her hands.

As they walked over to the bed they could hear another familiar voice protesting about something and when they came around the partially closed curtain they saw Laura. She was being held down by two nurses as a third tried to inject her, probably with a sedative. The blonde was still kicking about and the bedside table exploded as Laura struggled to get away. The nurse finally managed to inject her and Laura's struggled lessened until they stopped and the blonde laid their, eyes closed and body still.

The nurse that had taken Elizabeth to the next bed along came over to them. "We may have to sedate your other friend as well if she continues to protest the way she is. Could one of you please go and get the Principle?"

"I'll go," Daniel said and Teyla watched him run out of the rooms before looking back to the nurse.

"Is it possible for me to sit with them?" she questioned and after a moment the woman nodded gesturing to a nearby chair.

* * *

They were exhausted after yet another extended football practice but the team weren't as good as they were by not giving it their all. They were going to kick the asses of everyone else in the competition and there was still plenty of time before the competition to get even better. John adjusted the strap of his kitbag on his shoulder so it was more comfortable and pulled open the door to the main building. Jack, Ronon and Lorne followed him into the building, they'd been asked by the senior in charge of the football team to take something to one of the teachers. His office was on the first floor and they were going passed the main building on the way to the cafeteria anyway so they'd agreed.

The teacher wasn't in his office but his door was unlocked so they left the file on his desk and went on their way. John almost walked straight into Daniel and as he stepped out of the door, his friend was hurrying down the corridor as though he was trying to get away from a fire without running and alerting everyone to the fact that it was there.

"Whoa," he said as he stopped himself. "Where's the fire?"

"I have to go and get Morlin, Elizabeth and Laura have both been drugged again," Daniel told them all and John felt his blood boil, not only had whoever it was gotten Laura again but this time they'd got to Elizabeth as well.

"Where are they?" Jack questioned stepping forward.

"In the infirmary, I've gotta go," Daniel told them and ran off down the corridor in the direction of Morlin's office.

"Come on," Lorne said turning the group toward the infirmary. When they got there they found Laura and Elizabeth both out cold on the infirmary beds, Teyla was sat on a chair between them, her head down.

"How are they doing?" Ronon asked getting Teyla's attention.

"Not great," Teyla told them looking up. "Especially Laura, apparently the drugs are starting to have an affect on her body."

"What kind of effect?" Jack questioned pulling up another chair. John moved around to the side of Elizabeth's bed and took the chair there, sitting next to her. She looked pale and clammy, fragile, like she had the first time this had been done to her.

"Her body's getting tired; it can only go through withdrawal so often before it starts to give up. They've got monitors on her," she told them and John looked over. He knew how monitor magic worked, anyone who had ever been in hospital for anything that required observation had probably had monitor magic used on them. Spells we cast on certain parts of the body which monitored vital signs like heart beat and blood oxygen levels. If they dropped to low or went to high the person who cast the spell would be able to sense it.

John took hold of Elizabeth's hand; he was going to kill whoever was doing this, it didn't matter that the others wanted to kill them first or even that Elizabeth and Laura had the right to be first in line, they were just going to have to get behind him. Morlin arrived with Daniel and questions were immediately thrown at them as to where the girls had been and what they'd been doing. Elizabeth and Laura were still suspects, even if the evidence that there was someone else doing this was starting to mount.

* * *

The police investigation was making things difficult. The student that had come forward about the druggings ha changed the focus of the investigation. Laura and Elizabeth were still suspects but the police had refocused their attention on the idea that there really was someone in the school spiking the student's drinks. It meant he had to be more cautious; there had been too many missed opportunities that week. There had been one guy who had been ready, he'd planned to approach him this week to start him taking the drugs voluntarily. Now he had been set back and it would be another couple of weeks before he would be able to start getting any return on that guy.

It was annoying him to no end but he'd stayed cool, he had to otherwise he'd get sloppy and then he'd get caught. He'd managed to drug a few students; there was another girl who was about ready to be approached but maybe just one more drugging to be on the safe side. It was better safe than sorry in these situations, you had to know when people were ready and sooner or later they all would be. Everyone had a breaking point, you just had to be patient long enough to find it.

He was pleased with the work he'd done today. He'd managed to get Laura Cadman again; her water bottle had been sitting their on top of her bag while she was training for the netball team. Everyone had been so focused on the game that none of them had noticed him grab the bottle, drop the drugs in and place it right bag where he found it. It only took a minute, less if you were good enough and the drugs were planted.

He was more pleased about Elizabeth Weir though, the woman had been so good at guarding herself from him that he'd found it impossible to drug her. He'd known though that if he waited and watched for long enough he'd get his opening, nobody could protect themselves all the time, eventually their guard would be down. He'd seen his opportunity today while she'd been practicing for the debate team, while her concentration had been completely elsewhere. The girl who was replacing the water had almost dropped the tray with all the glasses on with a little nudge from him. He'd done the polite thing and offered to take them for her so she could go and dry her shirt.

He'd slipped the drugs into one of the glasses and gone around behind the debate team to replace all of them making sure Elizabeth got the drugged one. No one had seen anything but his arm and anyone that had been in a position to see his face hadn't been paying enough attention to even notice he was there.

There had been no profit made from Elizabeth yet, there might not be for a while but he had to stick it out, everyone broke eventually. The key was to stick at it no matter how impossible it seemed, no matter how strong their will, eventually they would all break and Miss Weir would be no different.

TBC


	17. Chapter 17

**Dr Rosemary Weir – **Thanks for the review, poor Elizabeth and Laura indeed lol. The culprit will be revealed soon, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Kuro – **You just know Elizabeth would be good at debates and I'm glad you liked the guild practices. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Bunnylass – **I feel kinda bad for everything I've put Laura and Elizabeth through but then if I didn't there'd be no story lol. I hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks for the review.

* * *

Chapter 17

John leant back in the uncomfortable infirmary chair and rubbed his eyes, he was tired, he hadn't slept well last night, he was sure none of the others had either. Laura and Elizabeth were still out cold but it was no longer due to the sedative, now their bodies were just recovering from the trauma they had been through even as they slept. Across from him Carson and Janet were sitting at either side of Laura's bed, the two of them had dropped to sleep an hour ago and knowing how tired they were John had let them stay that way. They'd both been in the infirmary until late last night with him, Teyla, Jack and Marcus, the six of them had stayed as long as the nurses allowed. John, Carson and Janet had come back early that morning and despite disapproving glances from the nurses had taken their seats once again.

Elizabeth sucked in a breath, a shaky hand going to her head as she woke up and opened her eyes. She groaned at the pain she was no doubt it despite the painkillers she was on. It took her a few moments to come around and John allowed her some space and time until she locked eyes with him, Elizabeth present and accounted for.

"You've got to be kidding me," she said barely above a whisper, memories coming back to her. "There's no way they got me again."

"Sorry," John said hating to be the one to confirm the bad news.

"How bad was I?" she questioned.

"Well, I didn't see it myself, you'd already been sedated when I got here," he told and she groaned as she realised she must have been pretty bad to have been sedated that quickly. "But according to Teyla and Daniel they found you in your room, sitting on your bed trying to beat up a bottle of wine you'd found in Teyla's wardrobe because you couldn't get it open. You slammed the door shut to protest against coming down here, Teyla said she's gonna have a headache from the noise it made for a while. They had to drag you all the way down here."

Elizabeth tried to sit up, her head must have protested though because her hand quickly went back to it with another groan of pain. John stood up and leant over her, he lifted her pillows so she could lean back but still be sitting up more. She closed her eyes as she laid her head back on them and John took his seat once again pulling it closer to the bed where her head was so he could talk to her without waking the others up.

"I don't know how they could have done this to me again," she said opening her eyes and looking at him. "I was so careful."

"No one's perfect," he told her brushing a strand of hair out of her face. "You couldn't be completely protected all the time," he said but his mind was still chastising him for not protecting her better. He knew there was nothing he could have done but that didn't stop the guilty thought nagging away at him.

"Why would they do this?" she asked shaking her head, wincing at the action as she looked up at the ceiling.

"I don't know," he replied. "Cos they're sick and when I get my hands on them they're gonna wish they'd picked different people to drug."

Elizabeth looked back down, her eyes meeting his. "Don't you go and do anything stupid, if you kill them before Laura' gets a chance to torture them she'll be really mad."

John smiled, it wasn't often she made jokes especially about something as serious as this but at least he knew the situation wasn't beating her, at least not yet. Elizabeth was looking over at Laura and their two sleeping friends. "Doctor has some monitors on her," he told her. "Apparently her body's had enough."

"Is she going to be alright?" she questioned.

"Hopefully," John replied and she bit her lip taking a deep shaky breath. "How are you feeling?"

"Like crap," Elizabeth said more bluntly than he was used to from her. "My head feels like it's going to explode one minute and then implode the next. I'm fairly sure I'm going to be sick sometime in the next ten minutes so you might want to watch out for that. My whole body is shaking and hurting and if I life my head off the pillow I feel like I'm going to pass out."

John nodded his head, she was entitled to be as mad and blunt as she wanted to be and it was probably good for her to vent a little. She had been drugged twice now and in his opinion she was showing a lot of self control, she was well within her rights to scream and kick things, that were if she could get out of bed to kick anything.

"We'll find who did this," he promised her "And don't worry; I'll let Laura torture them for a while before I have my turn."

* * *

Carson had woken up to find Elizabeth half sat up in her bed talking to John, she looked like hell but she seemed to be doing okay. Janet had fallen asleep in the chair at the other side of the bed and Laura was still out cold. The nurses were scurrying around doing their usual jobs, occasionally one of them came over to check on the girls but since Elizabeth seemed to be recovering and Laura had monitors on her those instances were few and far between. Janet had woken up not long after him, she'd been startled awake by the sound of one of the nurses dropping something.

Teyla arrived then, taking a seat next to John and immediately inserting herself into the conversation the group had been having about the quality of hospital food. Janet and Carson were trying to argue that it wasn't that bad, it was supposed to be healthy food that would help the patient's recovery. Elizabeth, John and Teyla were insistent that hospital food was among some of the worst things they'd ever had to eat in their lives.

A groan from Laura ended the argument and they were all relieved to see her open her eyes. Teyla ran to get the nearest nurse though one of them would already have sensed she was awake and be on her way. The nurse that had originally cast the spell was off duty now but she'd transferred it to another nurse who almost walked into Teyla on her way over to the bed.

Laura took a lot longer to come around than Carson would have liked and from the look on the nurse's face she wasn't happy about it either. It worried Carson even more than the entire time the nurse was examining her Laura didn't move other than what she was told to, she didn't speak, not one sarcastic word. She just laid there looking tired and defeated, after being drugged so many times who could blame her?

The nurse finally finished and informed them they had fifteen minutes before she was kicking all visitors out. The two girls needed to rest, it was the first time that friends hadn't been allowed to stay once Laura had woken up. Laura still didn't talk and for several seconds there was complete silence in the room until John moved her chair forward and spoke.

"How you doing?" she asked her, it seemed like a stupid question but someone needed to say something.

Laura turned her head on the pillow to look at Janet who ran her hand over Laura's hair a few times. "I'll live."

There was no life in the response, there wasn't even any sarcasm, in fact Carson was pretty sure he could have brought Rodney into the room rambling about his own intelligence and still no got a response from Laura. It was so completely unlike her and it had them all concerned. Janet smiled softly to her and picked up the bag she'd put down the side of the bed.

"The nurse said they want to keep you in here for another night just to keep an eye on you so I brought you some things with me this morning," she informed her. "There's a change of clothes, some PJs, your toothbrush and this."

Janet pulled a small stuffed animal out of her bag and it was a relief to see Laura smile slightly at it though he had no idea what the ratty looking thing was.

"Bubbles, but he's yours," Laura said and Janet shook her head and put the thing next to Laura's pillow.

"He's here to keep you company today."

"Do I even want to know why you have that?" Teyla questioned cocking her head at the stuffed toy.

"It was a gift from my grandmother before she died, it's my good luck charm," Janet replied only slightly defensive. "I've had him with me for every hospital stay I've had since I got him when I was five years old."

Laura thanked her and then went back to being quiet again; the nurse came back over telling them all to go. Reluctantly the group got up and left telling the two girls they'd be back soon and Carson thought he heard John whisper to Elizabeth that he'd sneak in some non poisonous food for her. He glanced back one more time at Laura, she was still laid their quietly, he was getting really worried for her.

* * *

There was none of the usual chatter and banter around the table, everyone's mind was on Laura and Elizabeth who were still stuck in the infirmary. They weren't allowed visitors until after lunch at which point they were all supposed to be back in lessons. Half the group had skipped morning classes to go the infirmary and even after they'd been kicked out their heads just hadn't been in the right place for classes.

Kate looked around at everyone, those that had been to the infirmary that morning had told the others how bad Laura had been. They were worried for her and for Elizabeth, this couldn't keep continuing, not without long term effects for everyone involved. She was going to go and see them after classes that afternoon, everyone wanted to go but they had decided they couldn't all be there at once. They were going to take it in turns so everyone could go and visit them for an hour; she was supposed to be going as soon as classes ended with Rodney, Ronon and Teyla.

"I saw Morlin earlier," Teyla said quietly. "The police are arriving this afternoon; they want to talk to a few of us. Me, Jack, Daniel, Janet and Vala only to begin with."

"I'm sure they just want to ask me where I was and what I was doing yesterday," Jack said as he pushed a bit of his cake around his plate with his fork.

"Well, this should at least knock you off the suspect list," John pointed out."You were at football training for almost two hours yesterday with the whole team, there's no way it could have been you."

"Joy for me," Jack replied sarcastically.

"It should knock most of us off the suspect list," Kate pointed out "We were all training for the guild competition with plenty of witnesses. The only people that won't be ruled out are the people that were with them."

"That would be me then," Teyla said and Daniel raised a hand in resignation.

"Me too," he said quietly.

"And me," Vala added."I don't understand how they could have gotten to them though."

"Laura leaves her water bottle at the top of her kitbag," Marcus said. "She likes to be able to grab it as soon as she wants it, I do the same thing. It would have been easy for someone to get to that while you were training."

"But surely someone would have seen them," Radek stated pushing his glasses up his nose.

"I think if this person has proven anything it's how good they are at being sneaky and how little attention people pay to things" Cameron said as he chucked half of his food in the bin, a loss of appetite seemed to have become a common problem all around the table. Kate been picking at her salad for the last half an hour and wasn't even halfway through it yet.

"We have to get to lessons," Teal'c said as he looked up at the clock. No one rushed to get up; they all moved slowly picking up their things and leaving the cafeteria in various directions. It took Kate a minute to remember what class she was supposed to have as she trailed absently after Daniel and Carson. She knew she wasn't going to get much work done but at least if she was in the classroom something might go in and stay there.

* * *

Teyla, Daniel, Vala, Janet and Jack were off being questioned by the police who had arrived a little while ago. Carson had given up on trying to concentrate through his lessons and told Kate to make good notes for him and Daniel to copy, she seemed determined to get through all her afternoon classes. Daniel had of course been excused from the lessons in order to speak with the police as had the others that were being questioned.

Carson walked into the infirmary, Laura was sat up in her bed, her pillows arranged behind her to keep her comfy. Elizabeth was up and about, John was with her helping her get her things together, obviously she'd been allowed to leave. She smiled to Carson as he took his seat beside Laura, the blonde acknowledged him with a smile that was even smaller than Elizabeth's.

"Getting out of here?" Carson questioned looking over to Elizabeth.

"Yeah, I've been ordered to go straight to my bed and other than toilet breaks I'm not allowed to get out again until tomorrow," she informed him handing John the small bag that had her clothes and her toiletries in. She walked over to Laura and held her hand for a moment.

"I'll come back and see you in the morning," Elizabeth said and Laura nodded.

"I'll be back to see you in a couple of hours," John added. "We have a schedule and everything."

Laura gave another weak smile and John followed Elizabeth out of the room. "Think they'll ever get a clue?" Carson questioned as he watched them go.

"Probably not," Laura replied and Carson looked her over, she still looked exhausted and he hated not being able to see any of the feisty woman he'd come to know.

"Are you feeling any better?" he asked her and she nodded her head.

"Yeah a little, they've got me on some new painkillers," she said "I'm just tired now, really, really tired," she continued and he could tell from her voice, from the way she spoke that there was more coming, that she just needed to say it all out loud. "I tried to go the bathroom earlier and I couldn't even get up without help. They had to walk me all the way into the toilets and then come and get me so I could get back to my bed."

She was venting but there was no emotion behind her words, no anger and no sadness. Her voice was flat and lifeless, quiet and subdued; everything Laura wasn't; at least, everything she normally wasn't.

"Your body just needs to recover Laura," he told her firmly. "It's been through a lot and it's just taking some time to heal itself. Tomorrow you'll be feeling a lot better."

"Until they do this to me again," she pointed out and Carson wished he could promise her that it wouldn't. Laura shook her head, her eyes filled with defeat that before now he would never have associated with her. "I can't keep doing this."

He took her hand "I know, the police will find whoever is doing this, they'll stop them."

* * *

Jack's head was pounding as he woke up and it took him a him a while to realise where he was. He was outside surrounded by trees with some tiny little critter trotting toward his head. Despite his headache he jumped up from the floor wishing he'd just stayed down there with the tiny animal. His head started spinning and he had to grab the tree near him to stop himself from falling back down there with it.

He had no idea how he'd gotten to wherever he was, he was kinda hoping he was still in the school grounds. He remembered being questioned by the police who had lightened up on him a bit once they realised it couldn't be him spiking everyone's drinks. Janet had been taken from the suspect list as well but Teyla, Daniel and Vala had not had an easy time of it. The police had eventually let them go and they'd all gone to the cafeteria to meet up with the others. They'd had something to eat and... then he'd started to feel ill.

He'd known what it was and rather than get caught out he'd headed for his room, he had no idea if he'd ever made it there or not because after that it was just a bunch of hazy flashes that made no sense. He could hear the rush of water behind him and knew he had to be near the river, it was still dark though and guard patrols would be all over the school. He knew he had a pretty slim chance of making it back to his room without being caught in the state he was in but he would definitely be caught if he didn't get back there. He put it down to pure luck that he hadn't been found already.

He walked in the opposite direction to the water sound; he passed two guards as he made his way through the woods and onto open school grounds. He wasn't too far from the Tower, he was as close as he could get to it while still being in the forest and he counted that as a blessing. There were three guards visible from where he was, two of them were walking in the opposite direction and he waited for the third to turn and face the other way before dashing across to the nearest building.

He stayed in the building's shadow as he ran, making it to the other side without being seen by anyone. He had to get passed the admin building next and then it was onto the dorms, there were more guards here since it was near the main entrance but he used the trees that were dotted around to help cover him as he moved. He walked into the towers, his room was pretty high up but it shouldn't be too hard to get there, there were always fewer guards inside the buildings than outside.

He moved up the stairs slowly, watching both above and below him for any signs of the guards. He had to duck through one of the doors to hide at one point, waiting for the guard to pass and leave the stairwell again before continuing up to his floor. He dropped onto his bed as soon as he got there but was immediately forced to get back up and run to the bathroom to be sick. He might not remember the specifics of last night but he did know what had caused it, Allinyas.

He was rapidly becoming familiar with that drug and he hoped the police caught the ass that was doing this soon. Laura wasn't even out of the infirmary yet, whoever was behind this had drugged her and Elizabeth only two days ago and now they'd gotten to him again too. He hadn't even been thinking about watching his food and drink, he'd been too busy worrying about the girls and the ass had taken advantage of it. He didn't have the energy to get up from the bathroom floor; instead he leaned back against the wall.

When he opened his eyes again it was light and he realised he must have fallen asleep. He felt tired and shaky but he dragged himself up and back into the bedroom. He looked at the clock; he had a little over half an hour before he needed to be in classes and his friends would be expecting to see him in the cafeteria before long. He smelled terrible though so he went back to the bathroom and took a shower, his body protested to every move he made but somehow he managed to clean himself up and put on some clean clothes.

He had fifteen minute left before lessons so he opened his door finding an envelope pinned to the outside. He could tell from the handwriting on the front that it was from his father so he closed his door again and opened it, he had time to skim through it before he needed to go.

He read the letter and his legs went out from under him, the pain his body was in was forgotten as he sat on his bed. It couldn't be... there was no way... his brother was dead.

TBC


	18. Chapter 18

**Authors Note: A bit of a short chapter here but I wanted to get something posted and it moves the story along a lot so hopefully that makes up for it, thanks for the reviews. Once again I'm sorry for the long wait, I'm getting terrible at updating. **

**Bunnylass – **Thanks for the review, I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter so much. I'm kinda wishing Jack would just own up too but pride is a powerful thing and I think Jack is full of it. I hope you like this chapter.

**Steph – **I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter and you really should be worried about Jack lol, thanks for the review.

**Saphire – **John always chastises himself when he feels he's failed to protect Elizabeth, it always provides nice shippiness. I know, I'm so mean, leaving you with that, I really do like to put the characters through hell don't I? Next chapter's here though and thanks for the review.

**Dr Rosemary Weir – **The villain will be revealed soon and as for John and Elizabeth, I've already got their storyline set in stone, you'll just have to wait and see. Thanks for the review.

**Kuro** – I love Carson and Laura, cute is easy to write for them lol. Thanks for the review.

* * *

Chapter 18

They'd been worried when Jack had missed their first lesson. He hadn't shown up in the cafeteria and they'd figured he was running late but then there'd been no sign of him in class either. As soon as the lesson had finished John had dashed over to the dorms while Elizabeth and Teyla went to their next class. Jack hadn't answered his door so John had taken it upon himself to go in and make sure his friend was alright. Jack had been far from alright, he'd bee sat in the corner of his room looking like hell and clutching a piece of paper.

The paper had been a letter from his father, Jack's brother had been a member of the protectorate's guild and he'd been killed two days ago. The specifics of the incident weren't in the letter but it had said he'd been killed in the line of duty. Jack had then told him to get out, shouted at him when he'd hesitated and John had left him with some space.

He'd apologised to the teacher for being late to class and then told Teyla and Elizabeth what had happened. He'd been reluctant to say anything at first, it was Jack's business and Elizabeth was only just being allowed back to lessons after being drugged, he didn't want to worry her more than necessary. None of them had been able to concentrate for the rest of class and Teyla had gone up to try and see Jack at the end of the lesson only to get sent right back out of the room.

"You should have seen him," Teyla said shaking her head, it was almost lunchtime now and Jack still hadn't left his room. "The curtains were closed, the lights were off and he looked terrible."

"I didn't even know he had a brother," Elizabeth stated.

"He's mentioned him to me a few times before, Alex, it sounds like they were pretty close," John told them finding he had no appetite and shoving the plate of fries away from him. He leant back in his seat with a sigh resting an arm across the back of Elizabeth's chair. "It's a pretty big shock; he probably just needs some space."

"Why can't we ever just have a nice, normal school term?" Elizabeth questioned. "First term we had Mathos and now we have someone drugging me and Laura, and now Jack's brother's been killed."

"Elizabeth Weir?" someone asked and Elizabeth turned to the man standing beside the table, he was one of the police that had arrived at the school yesterday. They'd decided to leave a police presence here in the hopes of deterring whoever was doing the druggings and maybe catching them in the act. John found it highly unlikely to work, this person had already proved how good they were at this, they were drugging several students and had yet to be seen doing it even once.

"That's me," Elizabeth said standing up. "I suppose it's my turn to be questioned?"

"It is," the officer stated. "Don't worry, I don't believe you're doing this yourself, it'll be easy questions," he told her with a reassuring smile.

"Well then you're in the minority," she replied and then turned to look at John and Teyla. "I'll see you guys later."

* * *

Carson and Janet put Laura's things into her bag, the nurses were letting her out of the infirmary on the condition that she rest for the next 48 hours. She'd readily agreed to it, she was going crazy stuck in here watching nurses run backwards and forwards. On top of that there were two other students in there that were driving her insane. One had been late to class and in their rush to get there had tripped and fallen down the stairs, he was now lying in the corner moaning and groaning about the pain he was in despite the heavy painkillers he was on. The other was another victim of the drugs, he was a fourth year student, a bit of weedy geek but he'd had his drinks spiked a few times now apparently. He too was moaning, less about the pain though and more about the unfairness of the situation and how he didn't deserve this.

"I don't know how you've put up with that all day, I'd have clocked him by now," Janet stated sending a glare in the direction of the still groaning patient who was completely oblivious to it.

"If you want to be a doctor then you may want to work on your bedside manner," Carson joked though he did have a good point.

"I'm not a doctor yet," Janet replied sending another glare toward the man who had done nothing but make Laura's headache worse since he'd arrived.

"Let's just get out of here," Laura said grabbing her bag from the bed. Carson took it from her before she could even put the strap over her shoulder and she didn't really have the energy to protest. She thanked the nurse that had been mostly looking after her for the last two days, the three of them left the infirmary and the two groaning patients behind. They were silent for the entire trip to their room and Laura decided she had never loved her dorm room as much as loved it at that moment. She dropped onto her bed, after a couple of days in the infirmary and with her body still recovering the walk had taken more out of her than she cared to admit.

She'd felt horrible when she'd first woken up and not just physically. This was beginning to take its toll in other areas now and for a while she'd felt... hopeless. She'd been drugged so many times now that she was about ready to stop counting. They had nothing on the person that was doing this; he'd gotten away with it every time without anyone even noticing anything suspicious. Even in the gym building, in the netball court with over a dozen other girls around no one had seen him get to her drink. She knew that had to be it, it had been not long after she'd drunk her water that she'd started to feel the effects of Allinyas.

Elizabeth was fairly sure it had been in the glass of water she'd had during debate practice. The girl who handed out the water that day had been questioned, someone had knocked into her and made her spill some of the water down herself, he'd offered to take the glasses through while she went to clean up. She'd been too focused on her wet top to pay any attention to him, according to her she hadn't even looked up at him just waved him off with a polite thanks as she left. No one at the practice remembered him either; it was like he'd been invisible both at the debate practice and netball training.

It really was no wonder that the police had focused on Elizabeth and Laura as suspects for so long. It was a highly convenient story with not a shred of actual evidence to prove it. No one had ever seen this guy, no one ever even seen someone near her food or drinks. At least with the police now staying at the school there was a chance that this person would be deterred from continuing. The police could be fairly sure it was a man now, the girl who should have been handing out the water at the debate team had said it was a man that took the water glasses from her.

On top of all this Jack had just found out his brother died and now not only did he have to deal with that but everyone else had an added thing to worry about. She was planning to sneak out of her room later and go check on him but she might have to leave that until he was doing better. Janet had said he wasn't handling the news well, that he'd shut himself in his room all day and wouldn't let anyone talk to him. She'd only known Jack for a little over six months but it didn't seem very like him to shut himself away like that but then grief did things to a person. He'd have to deal with it in his own way, all the rest of them could do was be there for him when he needed them.

"It's just about dinner time," Janet stated. "What do you want me to bring you?"

"Whatever you have," Laura replied, her appetite had been gone when she woke up after the drugging and had yet to return but she knew Janet wouldn't let her get away with not eating.

"It's alright, I'll go get it," Carson said heading towards the door. "What do you want?"

"Whatever you have," Janet told him with a smile. "I'm not fussed."

* * *

Sam sighed in frustration as she realised she'd once again missed what Professor Grant had been saying, they were half way through defence and she'd managed about six lines of notes. She new Rodney and Radek weren't fairing much better but between the three of them hopefully they'd have the majority covered. She just couldn't focus, her mind kept wondering to Jack who was still locked away in his bedroom. She'd gone up there with John that morning to try and see him but he hadn't been interested. He'd sent them back out before she'd even had the chance to get a good look at him in the dark.

The school had been made aware of the situation, they'd had no choice but to start speaking with teachers when it became obvious Jack was going to miss a second day of lessons. They were willing to cut him some slack for a while but if he didn't at least start coming out of his room soon the school were going to have to take action, not because he was missing classes but because this wasn't good for him.

She wished there was more she could do for him but until he let people near him she could only sit here and worry. She shook her head; she needed to concentrate even if she only managed it for a little while otherwise there was no point in being in the lesson. She focused on the teacher, keeping her mind from wondering as she made notes managing to get the entire piece of paper filled by the end of the lesson.

She packed up her things eagerly, lunch time would hopefully offer her a chance to gather up her thoughts and who knew, maybe Jack would show up and she could stop worrying so much. It was unlikely but it was still a possibility, one that she was going to hold onto until the end of lunch. She wondered if Laura would be joining them, she hadn't seen her since she'd been let out of the infirmary yesterday. Janet said she was doing much better and Sam hoped she'd be able to join the rest of them for lunch; Laura wasn't the type to sit in one room for long periods of time. The poor girl had to be going nuts which she was probably entitled to do after everything that had happened.

John, Elizabeth and Teyla were already in the cafeteria when she got there and she was pretty sure they hadn't been to any of their lessons that morning. They were probably the three closest people to Jack and not having him in the lessons with them would have been a constant reminder, she wouldn't have been able to concentrate at all. It was a testament to how bad things were, Elizabeth and Teyla would never miss so many lessons, Elizabeth especially and John, despite the laidback attitude he had towards educations, wouldn't want to miss this much school either.

"Hey," she greeted as she sat down. "Still skiving lessons?"

"Yep," John replied with a half humorous smile which lacked its usual enthusiasm.

"We're going to leave it until the end of the day before w try to see Jack again," Teyla told her and she nodded her head in agreement. She and John had only been up there a few hours ago to get a less than warm welcome, leaving it a few more hours was probably a good idea. Ronon, Teal'c, Cameron and Vala arrived then, the four of them dropping down into the empty chairs with heavy sighs.

"That was a complete waste of time," Cameron stated. "I think I managed about half a page of incoherent notes in the entire hour we were in that class."

"I didn't even manage half a page," Teal'c replied dropping his bag on the floor.

"You're not the only ones," Sam added her thoughts going back to Jack.

* * *

He hadn't seen Jack for himself but he'd heard he was in a pretty bad state. News of his brother's death had hit him hard and he couldn't honestly say he was sorry for it; it only made things easier for him. Of course he couldn't be sure until he'd actually seen him, only then he could make a final judgement but it was definitely worth looking into. As with all other approaches he'd have to be careful, be smart. If O'Neill wasn't ready to do this then he'd have to be sure that the man didn't even suspect his true motivations. It was a tricky balance, revealing enough to test his readiness without revealing anything that would give the game away.

He'd done this a lot though especially in the last couple of months and he had it almost perfected. Everyone was different, he'd have to cater the approach to Jack but the basics wee always the same. He was good at this, he had to keep confidence in that, had to believe it otherwise he could slip up at a crucial moment and that could be a disaster. There was risk in this business, there always had been but if he weren't willing to step out of the shadows and into the line of fire occasionally he'd never get anywhere.

All of O'Neill's friends were in the cafeteria worrying about him; he'd been locked away in his room for over 24 hours now. That only helped him, cut off from his friends Jack would be an easier target and with all of them trying to give him a little space there was less chance of interruption. He headed up the steps of the towers marvelling at the vanity of the decoration. Rich colours and elegant decoration, he'd never been in the towers before but he was already sick of seeing it. These people thought they were so much better than everyone else, people like him who had to work for their money.

He knew Jack's room number as well as he knew his own, as well as he knew all his victims and clients. He knocked on it but there was no answer from the other side, he hadn't been expecting one but he had to keep up appearances until the last moment. He walked in, the room was dark, the thick curtains were blocking out the daylight and the lights were turned off.

"Jack," he called but he couldn't see the man anywhere. He was about to check the bathroom when a movement in the corner caught his eye. Jack was sitting on the floor, his legs pulled up to his chest and his head down, he looked miserable, perfect. "How are you feeling?"

"Leave," Jack said, the word sounded choked as though he was forgetting how to use his voice.

"Things must seem pretty bad right now," he stated and Jack looked up confusion replacing the pain for just a moment. He didn't know who was in his room; he wouldn't recognise his voice like he might with some of his friends. "I know you're in a lot of pain," he continued before Jack could kick him out. "I know other things too."

Confusion came back for a moment but the pain quickly reclaimed its place.

"I know you've been drugged, like your two friends," he continued and the look he'd been hoping for crossed Jack's face. The look of considering, of thinking about something he would never have allowed more than a passing thought a couple of weeks ago. He knew what Allinyas could do for him, he knew that for a while it could take away the pain he was feeling and that if he wanted it too, it could do it over and over again.

"How could you know that?" Jack questioned both worried and suspicious but there was no accusation in his eyes, if there had been he would know not to make the next move.

"I think you know how," he replied and Jack stared at him a moment.

"It was you, you're the one that's been drugging me, and Elizabeth and Laura," Jack stated standing up in the corner. That was the part that could send this whole thing crashing down, not that he had been the one that drugged Jack but that he had drugged his friends.

"That's right, there are two ways this can go now," he told him choosing his words carefully. "You can tell people what you know, they'll all know that you were a victim and that I did this and the other drug dealers in the school will continue to operate they just won't have me to compete with. The second option is this, you don't tell and I can take away all that pain that you're feeling, if you choose the first option then you'll have to live with that pain."

Jack didn't move, didn't speak, he just stood there staring at him. A few weeks ago there would have been nothing for him to think about, he would have run straight to the Principle and the police to tell them who he was. Now he was different, his mind and his body were tired, he was still recovering from the drugs he'd been given a couple of days ago and now his brother's death. All he could feel at that moment was pain, mental, physical and emotional, in that position people would do almost anything to make it stop.

He pulled the small glass bottle from his pocket; this would be the last time he'd have to give him the drugs without being paid. After this he'd be hooked and he could start getting some return on his investment. He held it out to Jack; he couldn't mention money yet, right now he had to seem like an answer to a prayer, the good guy offering him a way out.

"Take it," he said. "It'll stop all the pain."

After a few more moments of hesitation Jack reached out, his hand closing around the small bottle and taking it. "I can't."

"You can," he told Jack who looked at the bottle unsure. "No more pain."

Jack nodded.

TBC


	19. Chapter 19

**Saphire – **Thanks for the review, sorry there was a bit of a wait for this chapter, on a mean cliff hanger too lol. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Sparkly – **I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter; sorry about the evil cliffy, hope this chapter makes up for it. Thanks for the review.

**Bunnylass – **Thanks for the review. I'm glad the part with the dealer turned out so well, I was agonising over it for ages trying to make sure it would be believable. Sorry about the wait and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Dr Rosemary Weir – **The drug dealer is going to be revealed VERY soon. I'm glad you're enjoying the story and thanks for the review.

**Steph – **Thanks for the review, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Belanna30 – **I'm glad the part with Jack accepting the drugs worked out because I was agonising about making it make sense for him to do that. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Kuroima – **Under normal circumstances I don't think any of them would take drugs either. I spent ages twisting things around to make it in character and believable for Jack to take them willingly so I'm really glad that worked out, I was pretty worried about it. Thank you for the review, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

* * *

Chapter 19

The glass vial felt cold in his hands, he'd been told not to take doses too close together but the urge was almost unbearable. He'd taken his first dose not long after he'd been given the vial and for a while there had been no pain, no hurt, he hadn't had a care in the world and the death of his brother was a distant memory. The effect had been temporary though and soon he had been crashing back down to reality with a painful thud. Since then all he'd wanted was to get back to that place, to the oblivion where none of his problems existed, where nothing could touch him.

His instructions had been very explicit, just a few drops into a food or liquid and not to take more than one dose a day. He'd already taken his second dose though, his dose for the day and he wasn't sure he could wait until tomorrow for the next one. It was then he realised how pathetic he was, sitting here in the dark of his bedroom craving his next drug dose and almost shaking with the need of it. What the hell was he becoming?

He would never have understood before, would have looked at a drug addict with disgust but now he was one. Now he understood the other side of it, the want, the need. He knew the blissful ignorance it could give you, freedom from all your pain and problems, he understood the addiction of it. The vial contained enough to last him two weeks if he didn't over use it, there was a lot in it and he wondered how much of the stuff had already been though his system.

How much if had been through Laura and Elizabeth?

That was the problem, he could sit here and take this stuff and fly away to his blissful heaven for a couple of hours but they were sill suffering with it. They didn't want the heaven, for them it was a hell and he'd seen the state Laura had been in after their last drugging and Elizabeth would end up like that as well soon. They were strong girls but he knew this was wearing them down and eventually it would break them, would they be like him, would they be addicts as well? He didn't like that thought, didn't like the place that it led him to.

They were suffering, they were his friend and they were going through hell. He had a chance to stop it, to put an end to it for them but here he was choosing not to. He'd accepted the drugs, kept quiet about what he knew but by doing that he had left Elizabeth and Laura to heir fate. What kind of a friend was he?

He couldn't really do this, could he? He couldn't really sit back and go to his happy little paradise time and time again knowing what it cost them. He couldn't sit back and watch them suffer just so he could experience a daily dose of freedom. There were other ways, it didn't have to be like this and he knew then that his decision had already been made. Laura and Elizabeth were his friends, people who trusted him, cared for him and he was supposed to return that, he wouldn't let them down like this.

He put the glass vial away, out of sight and for the first time in three days he left his room. The light from the corridor was an assault on his senses and he hoped no one would be able to tell that a few hours ago he'd been as high as a kite. He just had to go and give a name, that was it, then he could come back here and shut out the world again.

People were giving him strange looks and he knew he probably wasn't looking his best at the moment. He could probably do with a shower and shave, a change of clothes wouldn't have gone amiss either but it was too late for that now, if he turned back now he might lose his resolve. Ignoring the looks he was getting he continued through the dorms until he was outside, the fresh air was a pleasant feeling against his warm clammy skin but all he could think was that the feeling was nothing compared to what Allinyas gave him. His need for the drug shot up a few notches and it felt impossible to push it away.

* * *

Elizabeth was nervous; she hated being called to the Principle's office. In high school the only times she'd been called there was for some outstanding achievement that she'd made. Now she was constantly being called in for something bad, who'd have guessed she'd end up sitting in the Principle's office for drug related issues?

Laura was with her, she'd been called as well apparently and the two girl's had run into each other at the door. It had to be something to do with the druggings, it was the only possible explanation, maybe they'd made a breakthrough in the case, or had some new evidence or maybe they just wanted to ask more questions. She decided to stop trying to guess what Morlin wanted and just wait until she got in there to find out. She didn't have to wait long; no sooner had the two girls sat down in the waiting area they were being sent in.

She was very surprised when she saw Jack sitting in one of the chairs, he looked terrible but given that he'd discovered his brother had died and then locked himself away in his room for the better part of three days she supposed that wasn't unusual. Still, he looked really, really terrible, she'd visited him during his self imposed seclusion and the dark had obviously done a good job of hiding just how bad he was.

"Ah, Miss Cadman, Miss Weir, thank you for coming on such short notice," Morlin greeted them gesturing for them to sit down in the two empty chairs that had been provided for them. They both did so somewhat hesitantly, why would Jack be here? "I wanted the two of you to be the first to know, Mr O'Neill had come forward with some interesting information."

"What information?" Laura asked turning to Jack who for some reason couldn't meet either girl's eyes.

"I was drugged," he told them and Elizabeth waited before responding, she had a feeling there was more. "That night in town, the first time you were drugged and I went missing, it wasn't because I was drunk, I'd been drugged. I've been drugged several times since then as well."

"Why didn't you say anything?" Elizabeth questioned.

"The first time I didn't know for sure, I could remember what had happened and you all said I'd been drunk so I just figured that's what it was," he explained and Laura stood up. She still wasn't fully recovered from her last drugging, her skin was still paler than usual and her stance was almost unnoticeably shaky.

"And what about after that?" she questioned anger creeping into her tone and onto her face. If Jack had an answer he didn't give it, instead he looked down at the floor. "All that time, no one would believe us, they thought we'd done it ourselves and the whole time you could have come forward and helped us," Laura shouted angrily. "You just sat there and watched while people made our lives hell, for weeks Jack. We couldn't go to lessons without people glaring and whispering we couldn't walk down the corridor without people knocking our books out of our hands or pushing us down. You let that happen knowing that you could have come forward."

"Please Miss Cadman, sit back down," Morlin interrupted and Laura continued to stare at Jack, anger radiating off her in waves. She finally broke eye contact with him and sat down, the waves still coming off her. "Now we can't do anything about the fact that Mr O'Neill has only now come forward with this information but perhaps it has worked out for the best as he has some other information I believe you'll want to hear."

Elizabeth and Laura both looked at Jack waiting for him to tell them whatever it was that Morlin felt might redeem him. "I know who drugged us."

"What?" Elizabeth questioned in disbelief, after all these weeks no one had been able to get anything on this guy.

"He came to me a yesterday, offered to give me the drugs, probably so that he can start making money out of it," Jack told them, it made sense, get them addicted first and then give them what they wanted, it was an interesting way of getting new clients.

"Who was it?" Elizabeth questioned, she was as angry as Laura but she still wanted to know who had done this.

"Cal."

Elizabeth froze completely, Cal, her mind couldn't wrap around it. Cal who had been one of their friends, who had sat at the lunch table and had dinner with them, who had gone clubbing with them, who had joined them for Vala's birthday dinner. She would never have guessed, never have even suspected it was him, why would he do this to them?

Laura seemed as frozen as Elizabeth, she was just sat there staring at a spot on the wall, glaring at it as though she wanted to burn a hole straight through. Cal had been her classmate as well as her friend; she'd known him longer than Elizabeth had, probably joked with him during potions lessons about how boring Professor Trel was. This just didn't make sense, he was their friend. He'd been sat talking to Laura that morning, telling her that the ass that was doing this would get caught, all the time knowing he was the ass. It was too cold, too calculated, it made her shiver.

"The police are on their way to my office as well, in a few moments they'll be informed that Cal is their prime suspect and he'll be arrested. Of course they'll have to find evidence to substantiate the claim but a search of his room, his belongings should turn up something," Morlin said but the words barely registered. "You're all dismissed."

The three of them left the room without a word and Laura didn't even look at Jack as she took Elizabeth's arm and dragged her out to the cafeteria. Elizabeth went willingly after the first couple of steps, at that moment she had no desire to speak to Jack either, she needed to calm down first.

* * *

He'd barely stepped out of the building when they'd walked up to him and he knew from the look on their faces that he was busted. Three police officers, all of them looking smug and pleased with themselves that they were about to arrest him. They read him his rights as they cuffed him but Cal wasn't paying any attention to them, he knew his rights already, he'd been told them before. No his attention was on the people watching, on certain faces in the crowd and their presence, the expressions on their faces, told him how the police had found out it was him.

Elizabeth and Laura, the two of them were standing there looking at him, in disappointment and anger. John, Teyla, Marcus and Ronon were stood there with them, and from the looks on their faces they were restraining themselves from running forward and killing him... let them try.

So, Jack O'Neill had blabbed had he? He'd been sure the man was ready, that it had been the right time to approach him, he'd done it all right, he'd almost had him but he'd known the risks and there was only so long you could take them before you lost the game.

"I would have had you," Cal shouted as the police ushered him away. "Sooner or later I would have had you."

He knew the smart thing to do would be to keep quiet, play the innocence card as so many others would. He also knew that any half way thorough search of his room would turn up all the evidence the police would need for an easy conviction, he might as well piss a few people off on the way down. The group of friends turned and left with a few last hateful looks in his direction. He'd no doubt see them at the trial but that would be a long way off yet.

As the police led him away through the gathering crowd of student's he spotted Kolya. The man's smug face almost made Cal want to leap at him and strangle him to death but the nice officers probably wouldn't look too kindly on that. Instead he just sent a glare in his direction, a silent promise that one day he would get what was coming to him, Cal just hoped he was around to see it, maybe even cause it.

There were several other familiar faces in the crowd, other victims he'd picked, some that had been almost ready to take that final step. There were clients there too, panicked students whose only concern at that point was where they were going to get their next fix, he was sure Kolya would be all over them before the day was through.

* * *

Even with Cal arrested and gone John couldn't quite contain his anger, he had been their friend, at least he'd been posing as one. He'd sat with them and joked with them knowing that he was drugging some of them. If the police hadn't gotten to him first he would have killed him and he was fairly sure he would have had help from the others as well. Laura had looked ready to do some serious damage when she and Elizabeth had come to the cafeteria to tell them what Morlin had called them in for. Even Elizabeth had looked angrier than he could ever remember seeing her; even after the Mathos incident.

And Jack...

He couldn't believe his friend had kept quiet about it for so long. He'd let Elizabeth and Laura go through so much knowing he could do something to help. Granted, it may not have done much, Jack had been a suspect and he was their friend, the police may have just assumed he was in on it with the girls. He hadn't even tried though, whether it would have worked or not was beside the point, he should have tried.

He hadn't said it out loud and he had no idea whether any of the others had worked it out for themselves but Jack had said Cal approached yesterday. That was over a day ago, it had taken Jack a day between finding out it was Cal and reporting him to Morlin. It could only mean one thing, that Jack had considered Cal's offer, that for over a day Jack had needed to think about what Cal had offered him. He had been willing, even if it was just for a while to let Laura and Elizabeth continue to be drugged so that he could have the drugs.

He hadn't known Jack very long but he thought he knew him pretty well and he would never have guessed Jack was capable of that. He understood that his friend was going through a tough time, the death of his brother and the druggings that must have been hard to handle by himself but to put Elizabeth and Laura's health after his own want for a drug... it didn't seem like him. It didn't matter now though, the situation was over and Jack had locked himself back in his room again, that was the only problem that needed to be dealt with at that moment.

"I can't believe I didn't know it was him," Marcus said hitting the table with his fist. "I should have known."

"It's not your fault," Janet reassured him but he shook his head.

"He was my lab partner, I brought him into the group, it was me that let him get close enough to Elizabeth and Laura to drug them," Marcus continued to beat himself up.

"Marcus," Laura said calmly, despite the boiling anger that was still radiating off her. "You couldn't have known, none of us did. Janet and I were in Potions with him too and we didn't figure out he was an ass either. Besides, he may well have gotten to me and Elizabeth anyway, there's no way to know."

Marcus didn't look convinced but he didn't comment further, the group fell silent, all of them wrapped up in their own thoughts. Elizabeth stood up grabbing er coat and bag.

"I'm going to the library, after missing so many lessons I feel a need to catch up," she said and John stood up to hurry after, yelling a 'catch you later ' to the others as he grabbed his jacket. He fell in step with her near the door and followed her toward the library.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, she seemed to have calmed down a lot since earlier but that spark of anger was still there.

"As good as I'm going to get right now," she replied and he nodded his head. "I just... I don't understand how they could do it. Cal was our friend and he drugged me, Jack is out friend and he stood by while Laura and I went through hell."

"Are you still mad at him?" he questioned. "Jack, I mean."

"Yes," she replied honestly, stopping her footsteps and turning to look at him. "But I'll get over it; he came through in the end that's the important thing even if he was a little late with it."

"How about Laura, think she'll get over it?" John questioned, the fiery blonde was still boiling beneath the surface.

"Eventually, yeah, I think she will," Elizabeth replied and then sighed, it was both a sigh of frustration and of relief. "I can't believe it's over, he's gone and I don't have to be on constant alert for someone tampering with my food or drinks."

"Something tells me you're not gonna let go of your constant vigil that quickly," he said and she smiled slightly and cocked her head to the side conceding the point.

"How well you know me," she stated but seemed strangely absent as she spoke, as though she was thinking about something completely different and he added it to the list of intriguing, mysterious things about her. Half of the time he felt like he knew her well and the other half he felt like he didn't know her at all, she kept so much of herself hidden.

"Lantis to Elizabeth," he said waving hand in front of her face and stepping closer to bring her attention back.

"Sorry, I was miles away," she told him with a smile and he looked at her curiously.

"And where exactly did you go?" he questioned; he felt a strange need to get to know her better. She was his friend but he wanted to know what it was that she hid from them all, what made her keep herself so closed off to people who just wanted to be her friend.

She gave him another small smile but didn't answer just turned around to walk into the library.

* * *

Most of the stuff he was going to need was in the suitcase, he didn't need to take much he had some clothes and stuff back there, plenty to last him. All he really needed was his favourite jacket, a few of his school things so he didn't fall too far behind, his toiletries and few other personal belongings. His duffel bag was full; he just had one more thing to put in it. There was a knock at the door before he could move to get that last thing and he walked over to open it. John and Teyla were there and he was surprised to see Elizabeth with them.

"Can we come in this time?" John questioned and Jack stepped back to let them through. They walked passed him into the room looking around at the mess it was still in.

"When are you leaving?" Teyla questioned.

"In about an hour," he told them. He hadn't been given much notice about the funeral, it was in a few days and if he had any hope of making it back to Earleth in time then he was going to have to leave straight away.

"We just came to see you off," Teyla told him. "We didn't want you to leave without speaking to you."

"Thanks," Jack said.

"How are you feeling?" Teyla questioned and Jack shrugged, pretty lousy if he was honest and his body wanted nothing more than to get more of that drug. He wasn't going to be honest though, no more than he already had been.

"As well as can be expected," he replied instead, it wasn't really a lie just an omission.

"I don't know if you know but Cal was arrested and the police searched his room. They found tonnes of the drug stashed away in there, it was no wonder he could spare enough to go around drugging the other students until all they wanted was the drug. The police say they have more than enough to convict him, it's just a case of waiting for the court date so he can be sentenced but they say his chance of parole is slim at best," Teyla explained and Jack could be a little bit glad for that. Cal would have no doubt guessed who had ratted him out and though Jack wasn't one to run from a fight he didn't really want to get into one especially while he was in no condition to fight back with his usual enthusiasm.

"Well, we can't stay, we have to be in lesson, we'll see you when you get back," John informed him, it had been a quick visit but at least they had come. They said there goodbyes and left but Elizabeth turned around at the last moment.

"I forgive you for not coming forward and I'm glad you did in the end, thank you for telling Morlin what you knew," she said and he nodded his head, she was about to leave when she stopped again. "I'm sorry about your brother; I haven't had a chance to tell you that yet."

She left then following John and Teyla out of the room and closing the door behind her. Jack took a deep breath and walked over to his drawer taking out the small glass vial that was hidden there. He looked at it, there was still a lot of Allinyas left in it, enough to last a while, after that... he'd have to find another way. He wrapped the bottle up in one of his old shirts and tucked it into the bag digging it down deep so it wouldn't be found by accident. He zipped up his bag, he should probably go and eat, he knew he'd be facing the stares of the other students who had no doubt spread a dozen different rumours about what had happened but he had a long journey ahead of him.

TBC


	20. Chapter 20

**Authors Note: Another short chapter here but there's only one focus in it, hope you enjoy. **

**Sparkly – **Drugs are a difficult habit to kick, I think even with the best intentions people will struggle. I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter, there's gonna be a lot of Elizabeth's past revealed soon and the Sparkyness is almost here, thanks for the review.

**Saphire - **Okay I know you're a little mad at me lol but it's more realistic if Jack doesn't kick the habit straight away, it's nothing something you can just stop. Jack's a pretty loyal guy so even with his addiction to the drugs he couldn't let them down and yes, it was Cal all along.

**Bunnylass – **I'm glad the whole drugs situation is coming out alright; I was fretting about writing it before I even started the story line. Jack's a strong person but he's already addicted to the drugs and getting rid of them is going to be hard. Thank you so much for the review, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Dr Rosemary Weir – **Yes, there's more romance coming up and I'm not sure how many more chapters are left, there's quite a lot still left to write for this part of the story. Thanks for the review.

**Belanna30 – **Thanks for the review. I'm glad you liked Jack not kicking the habit yet, I think it's far more real that he struggle with it for a little while yet. I know I keep promising the Sparky is coming but it really is, patience is hard when it comes to shipping, I'm just as bad lol.

**Steph – **Thanks for the review, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

* * *

Chapter 20

"We gather here today to pay our respects to Alexander Damien O'Neill," the minister said, he was wearing the usual funeral garbs, black, the colour of mourning with green symbols sewn into it. The gathered crowd were also wearing black, a few greys thrown in there to break it up. The coffin was dark wood, Alex's body laid inside it in the navy blue dress uniform that all Protectorate's wore to important events. The only other people at the funeral not wearing black were the other Protectorates, those that had come to mourn the loss of a colleague and friend. At the foot of the coffin was Alex's second dress uniform, this one would be given to the family; the one he was wearing would be cremated with the body.

It was a typical Protectorate's funeral with all the usual ceremony and tradition that came along with it. Everyone stood in a circle around the open coffin; protectorates were at the front on one side, family and close friends on the other. Acquaintances and not so close friend were stood all around the circle, giving those closer to the dead their space.

"We are here to celebrate his life, mourn his death and aid his passage into the light," the minister continued addressing the whole group from the centre of the circle. He was stood behind a small podium, the huge funeral text in front of him. "Alex was a great man, a beloved son, wonderful brother, treasured friend and great protector."

His speech continued like that for a while, reminding all of them why they were there and what they had lost. Jack shifted as his mother did; she moved her weight from one foot to the other, silent tears falling from her face. His father's arm was around her shoulders, comforting her as best he could in the situation.

Jack had only arrived that morning, his carriage had pulled up outside the house and he'd barely had time to settle in before he'd gotten changed into his funeral clothes and come here. This was the first time since Christmas day that he had seen his brother; Alex had made it back on Christmas Eve and then left again at night the following day. It came with being a Protector, sometimes you couldn't always be at home when you wanted to be and unfortunately this had been one of those times. Alex had been laughing and smiling, hugging them all when he'd had to leave again and wishing he could stay a few more days. Now he was dead, lying in front of Jack more still than he'd ever been, no smiles, no laughs, no stupid comment or bad joke, just silent.

"A word now from Alex's father," the minister said and then stepped aside to allow Edward O'Neill to stand at the podium. His father was a tough man but at that moment there was a crack in the front he was trying to hold up.

"Alex was... my son, my boy, my first. I never agreed with his decision to join the Protectorate's guild but stubborn kid that he was he went anyway. He knew that one day he would have to return to Earleth to take over as Governor but he chose to spend his years until then protecting people and though I may have been adverse to the decision I am proud of him. He wanted to do good both for this country and for all Atlantis and I believe that he did. He was a good man, everything that you would usually say at a person's funeral could not be truer about him, he'll be missed."

His father returned to his position and one after another a few more people went up the podium to talk. His boss in the Guild told everyone how good he had been at his job, how many lives he had saved and how much good he had done. Friends told stories that had probably been best kept from Edward and Joanne O'Neill but they got a few laughs and smiles. When everyone was done the coffin was taken through to cremation and the friends and family were all led through to the large room where the wake would take place. A buffet had been set up, an overly extravagant one but then Alex was the son of the Governor, in all of Earleth there was no family considered more important than the Governor's family, no family with more money to spend either.

Jack didn't feel much like mingling with people so he kept himself to himself but he couldn't help people coming over to talk to him. Everyone wanted to tell him how sorry there were for his loss and how great his brother had been. He already knew how great Alex had been, he was his brother after all, he knew it better than all of these people. He caught the disapproving look his father sent his way after he dodged a couple that had been on an intercept path with him. Resigning himself to his fate he stopped and allowed the next couple to approach him and offer him their condolences.

* * *

The funeral and the wake had taken a lot out of his mother; Joanne O'Neill was sitting in the large armchair beside the one his father would usually be in. Her head was in her hand and her posture unusually slouched, she was tired, anyone who looked at her would be able to tell. Jack wasn't surprised, he doubted she had slept well since she'd found out about Alex and that had been days before news had reached him. That was one more reason for Jack to keep the events at school to himself; he didn't need to add another worry to his mother's list.

"Are you alright mother?" he asked and his mother looked away from the crackling fire her eyes had been fixed on for at least the last twenty minutes.

"I'm fine," she told him, as stubborn as his mother was sometimes, she was clearly not fine. Jack didn't ask again, instead he refocused his attention on his school work. He knew there were better times to do it but he needed to take his mind off everything and this was the first time in a long time he'd been able to focus on anything to do with school. First there had been Elizabeth and Laura's drugging, Laura especially hadn't come out of it well and he'd been too busy worrying about them to concentrate on school. Then there had been Alex, he'd barely left his room in the dorms after he'd found out about that, he was probably miles behind and any chance he had to catch up he should take.

He read through his Mythology textbook making notes on stuff he knew he'd have missed and trying to wrap his head around everything, this was all a lot harder to learn on your own. On top of all the catching up he needed to do he had three class projects to do that he'd also fallen behind on. His father walked in and cast a look in his direction before sitting in the second armchair next to his mother.

"How are you doing dear?" he asked his wife who just gave him a small smile and went back to staring at the fire. His father once more turned his gaze on Jack; there was pain in his eyes that he was holding back for everyone else's sake. "Surely there are other days that you can do that."

"I've fallen behind since I found out about Alex, I need to catch up before I go back," Jack explained telling only half the story but it was the only part his father needed to hear.

"And when will that be?" his father questioned and Jack knew he was expecting him to stay for a while but he didn't intend to be here that long. The longer he was here the more likely it was that his father would find out about the things happening at school and he would rather that not happen.

"A couple of days," Jack told him bracing himself for the argument he was going to get.

"Only a few days, I'm sure you can spare the death of your brother more than a couple of days," his father replied seemingly annoyed.

"Father it took three days to get here and it'll take three days to get back, if I'm here for two days then I miss over a week of school and I'm already behind," Jack explained, not his only reason for getting back but a good one nonetheless. "The exams are in a few months, I can't afford to be anymore behind than I already am."

"Fair enough," his father said and Jack raised an eyebrow; that was unusually easy.

* * *

Jack closed the door to his room behind him and leaned against the door. His room here was easily twice the size of the one he had at school even as one of the students lucky enough to get a dorm room in the towers. It was strange though that most of his stuff was actually at the school but then he did spend more of the year there than at home now. His duffel bag was still on his bed, one of the servants had brought it up when he'd arrived but there hadn't been time to unpack before the funeral and he didn't feel like doing it now either, It didn't matter much anyway, he'd be going back to school soon, unpacking seemed pointless.

He pushed across the latch on his door, clicking it into place and locking the door before he walked over to his bed and sat down. Unzipping the bag he dug around until he found the shirt he'd stuffed in there after the last time he'd taken it out. He remembered the windows and stood up to close the curtains, flicking on the light and going back to the bed. He unravelled the shirt, the small glass vial dropping into his hand. It was only a little over half full now, there was maybe a week and half's supply left.

He needed this after the day he'd had, the thought of it had been almost the only thing that had gotten him through it all. He pulled the top off the glass and poured a few drops into the glass of water one of the servants had brought up here for him at some point. He would have to make sure he didn't leave anything in the glass. Mixing the liquid he waited a few moments for it to be ready and at its best and then downed almost all the water in one.

It wouldn't take long for the drugs to take effect though he had noticed it took a little longer each time, his body was adjusting to the dose he was taking. Even his control while the drugs were in effect was getting better, he wasn't struggling with it so much and he wondered briefly if it was because he'd stopped fighting it.

Soon after that he wasn't wondering anything anymore, the funeral and the wake, his parent's, all his troubles were gone and there was nothing but a light headed feeling in it's place. He soaked up the feeling, the absence of pain, the freedom and weightlessness of it. His mind wondered, unable to hold onto thoughts for very long but longer than it had before. He wasn't tired anymore, the physical and mental tiredness, the emotional exhaustion, it was all gone.

He stayed vaguely aware of what he was doing and thinking, partially in control of his actions. It wasn't a tolerance to the drug, it was something else, his mind getting stronger to try and keep control. It lost in the end, it probably always would but at least it could put up a good fight now. His last coherent thoughts were of the door and he hoped he didn't unlock it and get caught.

* * *

His friends had changed, it was like hanging out with a group of completely different people but then they could probably say the same about him. He'd seen them briefly over Christmas, he'd thought back then that they'd changed and in the last two and half months they'd changed even more. They were all older, more mature; one of them had settled down with a family, another was just starting one and the others were holding down jobs. No magic school meant no magic, anyone who didn't learn to use it wasn't allowed to, that was if they had it all, some people never developed the gift. It was a bad system but in some ways it worked; for the most part only those lucky enough to get into a magic school were allowed to use magic, there were other ways of course but none as good. Three of his friends had gone to other schools; two at Hive and one at Abydos, the rest were still here in Earleth.

"So what's it like at that fancy school of yours?" Mal questioned, there was slight hint of resentment in his voice, Mal had applied to the school and hadn't got in.

"It's alright," Jack replied, no point in rubbing salt in the wound.

"We need to do something other than hang out in this field guys," Lorraine said, she had changed the most in the last six months and half months. In high school she had taken to wearing barely there clothes, her hair had always been long and loose, her face covered in make up. Now if she was wearing make up he couldn't tell, instead of a miniskirt and very low cut tank top she was wearing jeans and long sleeved shirt and her hair was tied back obviously cut shorter than it used to be.

"This was alright for us a year ago," Jordon replied, he hadn't changed much at all. He still had the same jock mentality, still wore the same type of clothes, the same hairstyle. They'd all hung out in this field with cans of alcohol they should never have been able to get and music that had been far too loud.

"A year ago we were high school students with nothing better to do with our time," Lorraine replied. "I didn't leave my one week old son to sit in a field for a couple of hours. This is all the time I've had away from the house since the last month of my pregnancy, I'm not wasting it."

"What's his name?" Jack questioned realising he didn't even know that much about the kid.

"Lucas, he was born really early, the doctors didn't think he was going to make it. I found out I was pregnant in the last few weeks of school, I wasn't even sure I wanted him at first, now I can't imagine not having him," Lorraine told him with a proud smile.

"Why did you never tell us?" Jack asked, he'd had no idea.

"I didn't want people to know; at least not until after I graduated," Lorraine replied." Neither did Bobby, we just wanted to get to the end of school."

"So Bobby is the father?" Jack questioned.

"Who else would it be," she replied "He's a good dad; he's with Lucas now, decided to let me have my fun for a change."

"What about you, what's new with you?" Sandra questioned, she had been a lot like Lorraine back in school, barely clothed and flaunting what she had. She seemed to still be that way now, except she was doing it with a little more class, less make up, nicer clothes.

"Not much," he told them, it was a complete lie. "School is keeping me busy. I told you at Christmas what happened with one of the teachers, this term has been pretty uneventful."

"I'll bet your looking forward to the summer holidays," Mal said and Jack shrugged.

"No as much as you'd think."

* * *

He was heading back to school in the morning, the coach would arrive for him early and he'd be well on his way back by the time the rest of household was up. There'd be a few servants up, the cook would be preparing breakfast for his parents, maids would be making sure everything was clean and tidy. This was his last night and he was taking the opportunity to walk around the house, he hadn't been anywhere but the lounge, the dinning room, his bedroom and the bathroom in the couple of days he'd been here.

It was fairly quiet, it was getting late, the majority of the staff had gone to bed so there were very few of them scurrying around. It was how he preferred it, he'd always preferred the house when it was quiet even if he had been brought up surrounded by people all the time. Alex had been different, he belonged in this life, as stubborn as he'd been about his wish to be in the Protectorate's Guild, Alex had always planned to come back here and take on the Governor's position. It had been in his brother's blood, Jack had obviously not received those genes but Alex had wanted this.

He walked passed his father's study, the light was on inside and he decided to walk passed that room. He'd barely made it passed the door when his father's voice called him in. For a second he felt like a fifteen year old who had just been caught trying to sneak back into the house at some ridiculous hour of the morning. Stopping in the hallway he debated for a moment whether or not to run back to his room, maybe his father wouldn't follow him and he'd be gone before his father opened his eyes in the morning.

He knew better, he went into his father's office wondering how it was the man always knew when he was trying to sneak passed. He popped his head through the doorway first his father was sat behind his desk in the huge chair that was almost as big as the desk.

"Come in Jack," Edward said gesturing to the other chair in the room and Jack was reminded of his few trips to the principle's office.

"Dad," Jack greeted as he moved to sit in the chair.

"We need to talk," Edward told him and Jack knew he wasn't going to like where this was going. "Alex is... gone... that means that when the time comes it'll be up to you to become Governor."

Jack sighed, this was everything he never wanted, he'd been glad he was the younger brother because that meant that this responsibility didn't fall to him. Now, without Alex there to take the position Jack would be expected by everyone, not just his parents, to become Governor. He knew that his mother and father already didn't agree with him joining the Protectorate's Guild any more than they had when Alex had done it. Now they'd be dead set against it, not only was he now the future Governor but after what had happened to Alex they weren't going to want to take chances. He was going to have a fight on his hands when it came time to join up.

"I know it's not what you want," his father continued sounding genuinely sorry for it. "But this is how it has to be."

"You're right it's not what I want, what I want it to be a Protectorate," Jack replied adamantly, there were probably better times to talk about this but his father had started it.

"About that," his father said and Jack sighed, here we go. "I don't think the Protectorate's Guild is the correct career path for you, I believe we should reconsider your options."

We? He hadn't even been involved in Jack's decision other than to discourage it and he wasn't going to be involved in that decision in the future either. This was up to Jack; his entire future was up to him and him alone. At least he knew why his father had been so agreeable over the last few days, he'd been waiting to drop this bomb on him.

"This is all still pretty new, I just wanted to touch on the subject, we'll leave it for now," Edward said and Jack decided that was probably a good idea. He nodded and bid his father goodnight and goodbye before leaving the room and going back to his bedroom. He closed the door behind him and dropped down onto his bed with a heavy, long suffering sigh.

Damn, he needed another dose.

TBC


	21. Chapter 21

**Authors Note: I was really worried about writing the end of this chapter, I think it might be one of the reasons I kept putting off writing this fic. I hope it turned out okay. Enjoy!**

**Steph – **Thanks for the review. I'm glad you like the glimpse into world outside the school; we'll be getting more of those later in the series. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Lizabeth39 – **I'm glad you like the story, Elizabeth's past we'll be revealed very soon. Thanks for the review.

**Saphire – **I know its heart breaking to watch Jack suffer like this and it's damn hard to write it and have it still be in character but I think its better that he struggle rather than kick the habit right off. I'm fairly sure you're gonna kill me at the end of this chapter but I hope you enjoy it reading it anyway lol. Thanks for the review.

**Belanna30 – **Of course I forgive your sparky assignment, you wouldn't be a very good spark if you didn't get a little excited over them lol. I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter; the other characters are back in this one. Thanks for the review.

**Bunnylass – **I'm glad you liked the look into Jack's life away from school, there's more of those to come for other characters soon. Thank you so much for your reviews, I've been really worried about writing Jack's addiction so it really is good to know that I'm getting it right. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

* * *

Chapter 21

The coach pulled up outside the school gates and Jack stepped down, he took his bag and said goodbye to the coachman. It was a new guy; Jack hadn't even learned his name in the last few days, the guy never seemed to talk. The coachman nodded his head and left without a word, Jack rolled his eyes, that had to have been the most boring trip of his life. Walking into the school he saw John, Elizabeth, Teyla, Ronon and Sam sitting on the grass beneath one of the trees. They hadn't noticed him yet, John and Elizabeth were reading a rather large text book and Jack hoped they were just doing some extra reading, knowing John that wasn't likely. Teyla, Ronon and Sam were chatting happily about something.

It was Ronon that noticed him; he tapped Teyla's shoulder and nodded his head to where he was standing. Teyla and Sam both turned around to see him, they smiled and stood up walking over to him with Ronon close behind. Elizabeth and John saw the rest of the group moving and followed after them.

"Hey Jack," Teyla greeted him with a hug. "How are you doing?"

"Been better," Jack replied honestly though that was probably as much to do with how much he needed to get his next dose as his brother's funeral less than a week ago.

"It's good to have you back," Sam stated as she too hugged him and he found himself holding onto her a second longer than was probably necessary. He shook Ronon's hand and turned to Elizabeth who offered him a hesitant hug; John clapped him on the back and welcomed him back.

"Heavy reading for you isn't it?" Jack questioned gesturing to the huge book under his arm.

"Heavy is right," John replied adjusting his hold on the book. "But assignments are assignments, we've gotta get through the first three chapters of the book by our Sociology lesson on Friday and they are long chapters. I have your copy in my room I'll get it for you later."

"Thanks," Jack said.

"Yeah, school work is getting pretty tough, the exams are only a few months away now," Sam told him and Jack was reminded of all the catching up he was going to have to do.

"It's a nice day," Teyla stated "Nicest day we've had in a while, we were all thinking about going down to the river to do some studying, why don't you come with us, we can help you catch up?"

"Maybe later, I've got to unpack and everything first," Jack replied and Teyla nodded.

"We should probably let you get on with that," Elizabeth said. The others left then and Jack sighed as he headed for his dorm room, he'd have to check back into the school so they'd know he'd returned but he could do that later. His room had been tidied whilst he was gone; he'd been informed that a maid would be sent into his room at some point to avoid dust collecting while it was unoccupied. Dorm rooms were always maintained when they were empty, it was a school policy and all students had to agree to it.

Most of his mess was still there though it had been turned into an organised mess. Clothes that had been thrown around the floor were folded into piles on his bed. Papers were neatly placed on the desk and rubbish had been thrown in the bin. The curtains had been opened, the bathroom had been cleaned and his laundry was gone. Considering how he'd spent the last few days he'd been in this room, the cleanliness, the freshness, the light, it seemed foreign.

He locked the door behind him and dumped his bag on the bed; he wasn't going to bother unpacking until later. Digging around in the bag he found the glass vial, sighing at the level of liquid left in it now, he had less than a weeks supply left. He needed to find another source of the drug, there had to be other dealers, if not here on school grounds then in town. There was a bottle of water in his bag, only half full now but he put the few drops into it and mixed it around before he drank it.

It would be a few minutes before the drug started to take effect, it was taking longer and longer each time he took it now, maybe he should start taking a higher dose after he secured more. The light headed feeling came to him slowly, the weightlessness not far behind it. He took a deep breath soaking up the feeling as much as he could, in a few hours it would wear off and he needed enough of it to get him through to tomorrow.

* * *

"Seriously, where the hell does chapter one end?" John questioned. He kept his finger on the page they were on as he scanned ahead to find the end of the chapter, it just seemed to keep going. "That's ridiculous," he stated when he finally found the end. "How do they expect us to get through all this in less than two weeks on top of all our other homework and studying?"

"No one said it was going to be easy," Elizabeth replied pushing the pages back into place so they could continue reading.

"I don't recall anyone mentioning it was going to be this hard either," John shot back and she smiled turning her attention back to the book.

"Where were we?"

"Something about higher class views on the lower class," John said, he'd only been half paying attention. He'd started out with the best intentions really, but after the first twenty pages it had all started to blur.

"Why don't we take a break?" Elizabeth suggested with a sympathetic smile. "We're supposed to be meeting the others down at the river soon anyway."

"Sounds good to me, I've been spending way too much time in this library," John replied and she rolled her eyes as they stood up. John took the book; he'd seen a lot of the year 1 girls struggling to carry these stupid things around with them. Elizabeth was no exception, even If she wasn't admitting it. Teyla had even threatened to hit Rodney over the head with hers; the knowledge that the book would probably destroy his skull had made the young man quit complaining rather quickly.

"We don't need to be down there for another half an hour though," Elizabeth stated and John glanced at the clock on the wall.

"True, doesn't hurt to go early though. We can stop by the cafeteria for snacks and head straight there if you want," he suggested and Elizabeth nodded. "One condition though, no studying until the others get there, my brain's starting to hurt."

"Agreed," Elizabeth laughed. They made a quick stop at the cafeteria, filling John's bag with snacks and drinks before heading to the river. The sun was out and it was warmer than it had been in a while so there were already a lot of other students down there. John and Elizabeth found a tree to sit under and John dropped the book to the ground with a thud.

"Would you be careful, that's school property," Elizabeth scolded and John shrugged as he sat down.

"And my spine is my property but they don't seem to mind damaging that by making me carry this thing around," John told her and Elizabeth shook her head at him.

"You big baby, it's not that heavy," she replied.

John raised an eyebrow, "You wouldn't be saying that if I made you carry it everywhere."

"I am perfectly capable of carrying it," Elizabeth told him defensively.

"Well I just might make you," he stated with no intention of actually following through.

It was a lot noisier than they'd been expecting, only half the students had come for studying, the others were all running around loudly. A few feet away someone was pushed into the river, the guy responsible stood at the side of the water laughing until two other kids snuck up behind him and shoved him in too.

"Can you believe we're only four months away from the end of the school year," Elizabeth said suddenly. "It's seems like yesterday we got here."

"And I nearly killed you with a football," John added with a grin.

"That too," Elizabeth replied.

"It's weird to think none of us new each other back then, it seems like we've all been friends forever," John said thoughtfully. He remembered meeting Jack and five minutes later they were throwing a football between them like they were long time friends. "And you were this quiet little thing with her nose in a book more often than not."

"Yeah, until Teyla started stealing the books from me," Elizabeth responded.

"Here," John said tossing a chocolate bat into her lap.

Elizabeth picked it up surprised. "I thought they didn't have any left."

"I grabbed the last one before this other kid could get it," he told her nonchalantly. "If the chocolate all over his face was anything to go by then I'd guess it was him that ate all the others."

"They're my favourite," Elizabeth stated.

"I know."

* * *

The others were all at the river already, sat in small groups working on one thing or another. The drugs hadn't completely worn off yet but he was in good enough shape to show his face for a little while. Teyla had come looking for him before she'd come down here, he'd still been coming down from his high so he'd yelled through the door that he would meet her here, that had been two hours ago.

"Hey, you took your time," Teyla said as he sat down between her and Sam.

"Sorry, I had some mess to tidy up and the maids had been in my room and moved things around," he excused.

"Okay, so what do you want to catch up on first?" Sam questioned.

"Whatever's easiest," Jack replied, his brain was in no condition to try and learn something difficult, he'd be hard pressed to process whatever they told him anyway.

"That would probably be mythology;" Teyla said "We haven't done that much in the last few weeks and the teacher was ill for a couple of lessons."

Teyla handed him a text book, one a hell of a lot smaller than the one John and Elizabeth were still trying to get through. He could hear them talking about something to do with economics and he figured that was something best left until his brain felt like working with him a little more. "Alright, mythology it is."

Elizabeth looked better; it was one of the first things he'd noticed when he'd gotten back to the school. When he'd left she'd still been feeling the effects of her recent druggings and Laura had been even worse. Both girls looked like themselves again, Laura was with Carson, Janet and Kate, they were laughing at something as they studied. They were both looking better but now he had no supply of the drugs, he needed to find someone else soon.

Teyla and Sam started explaining stuff to him, occasionally having to glance at the book to remember things. Teyla had made two copies of her class notes for him and gave them to him on the condition that he promised to read every word. He agreed, it had probably taken her ages to copy all her work for him. She waved him off when he commented saying it had helped her to study anyway.

* * *

Her history assignment was finally finished and Sam took great satisfaction in tucking the completed work into her folder. She could hand it in during their next lesson and be rid of it, one less thing to worry about. It would probably be a good idea to get some more of her reading assignment for Sociology done; she only had three days left and still had a whole chapter to get through. Her brain felt like mush though, after a day of lessons and then two hours working on her History assignment she decided she'd earned a break. Besides if she didn't head down to the cafeteria for dinner soon then they'd be closed before she could eat.

She left her dorm room and went to the cafeteria, she was about to walk inside when she saw Jack. He was walking away from her, down toward the forest and from the look of it he wasn't all that steady on his feet. She followed him, finding him down by the river and stopping behind the tree line where he couldn't see her.

He dropped down by the water, washing his face off and then laying back on the grass. Even from where she was hiding she could see the layer of sweat on his skin, the slight trembling in his body. He put an arm over his eyes and the other one on his head, probably to fight off some headache, a moment later he rolled onto his hands and knees to throw up.

She cringed and looked away to avoid being sick herself. She could hear him retching behind her and she had to resist the urge to go help him. Praying she was wrong she turned back to where he was kneeling on the ground, he looked like crap. In fact he looked exactly like Laura and Elizabeth had done when Allinyas was wearing off. He'd been drugged as well, she knew that much, but Cal was gone now, he wasn't around to drug anyone anymore. She knew she should give him the benefit of the doubt but too much clicked into place for her to ignore what she was seeing. There had been a day, one day between him finding out who Cal was and telling Morlin. That meant that for a day he had considered what Cal had been offering him, the drugs.

He kept disappearing, making an excuse to leave. He'd only been back a few days but everyone was already concerned about the distance he seemed to be keeping from the group. None of them suspected this but then neither had she until this moment. Too much fit, too much made sense for her to be wrong and if she was she'd happily apologise but she couldn't ignore it, she had to do something. Running back to the cafeteria she found John and Elizabeth there.

"Hey Sam," Elizabeth greeted and then paused when she saw the look on Sam's face. "Are you alright?"

"No," Sam replied, she really wasn't. "I need to speak to you both... in private."

They both obviously sensed her urgency because they stood up without a word and followed her out of the cafeteria. Her room was the only place she could guarantee privacy so they went there, nobody spoke until she had closed the door behind her.

"Sam, what's going on?" Elizabeth questioned.

"I don't know how believable this is going to sound but I think... I think Jack might still be taking the drugs," she told them bluntly, it was best to just get it out there and they could argue about it then.

"Are you serious?" John asked sceptically.

"I just saw him down by the river," she explained. "He was throwing up, shaking, sweating, blocking the light from his eyes."

"Everything I did when the drug was wearing off," Elizabeth said and Sam nodded her head.

"Wait, this is Jack we're talking about," John tried to protest and then sighed when he inevitably came to the same conclusion. "Actually, it does make sense. He didn't tell Morlin about Cal straight away and..."

"He keeps sneaking off, disappearing for hours," Elizabeth finished. "And he's been acting... not like himself, he snapped at Rodney yesterday and for once he hadn't done anything to warrant it."

"He's been through a rough time, the druggings and his brother dying, he's not in a good place right now," Sam said and wondered if she was tying to make sense of what he was doing or trying to make excuses for him. "I haven't told anyone else, Jack doesn't even know I saw him."

"So what do we do?" Elizabeth questioned.

"I have no idea."

* * *

John knew he was gonna end up giving himself away but he couldn't help but keep glancing at Jack. For the last few days everything Jack did only served to solidify his belief that Sam had been right and Jack was still taking Allinyas. He didn't know what to do, Jack was his friend and going to a teacher or Morlin would likely result in him being kicked out of the school, suspended at the very least. At the same time he couldn't just turn a blind eye to it; one bad dose could kill him and even if that didn't happen the constant use of drugs would eventually be too much for his body. His school work was suffering; the man couldn't concentrate in lessons for more than a few minutes. He had an uncharacteristically short temper, snapping at people for the smallest things.

Elizabeth nudged him with her elbow and he realised he'd been staring at Jack. Thankfully his friend was too caught up in the conversation he was having with Marcus and Laura to notice. He mentally shook himself, he needed to figure out what he was gonna do and in the meantime stop making it obvious that he knew something was wrong.

"He's going to get suspicious if you keep that up," Elizabeth whispered.

"I know, we have to do something though," he replied.

"Got any ideas," she questioned and he sighed shaking his head. If Cal wasn't sitting in a jail cell awaiting his court date then John would kill him for getting Jack addicted, he'd been planning on killing him anyway for drugging Laura and Elizabeth.

Sam and Teyla were looking at them both; they were the only other people that knew about Jack's addiction. They'd spoken to Teyla right after Sam had told them what she'd seen; she was as close to Jack as the rest of them and it wouldn't have been fair to keep her out of the loop. The rest of the group was happily oblivious to what was going on, they were just putting Jack's odd behaviour up to everything he'd been through lately. John had a feeling Ronon and Teal'c might be suspicious but if they were then they weren't saying anything.

Jack stood up putting his jacket on and grabbing his bag from the floor. "I'm gonna go and get some of my History assignment done."

"You spend more time studying than Elizabeth does at the moment," Marcus stated and John saw Elizabeth narrow her eyes at him.

"Well I fell pretty far behind, gotta catch up before final exams," Jack told them starting to leave.

"You finished your history assignment yesterday," John stated without looking up. Jack had obviously forgotten mentioning that to John. He froze as he was leaving the table and a moment later turned back.

"Sorry, I meant my Defence assignment," he said and John nodded looking up at him.

"Is lying a genetic ability or have you had to practice?" John questioned. The whole table was silent, most of them wondering what the hell was going on while Teyla, Sam and Elizabeth were looking at him worriedly. He knew this wasn't the time or place to have this conversation, the rest of the students in the cafeteria were going about their business but it wouldn't be hard for this to attract attention. This was probably best kept for later but he couldn't just sit here again while Jack snuck off to take drugs.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Jack asked and John stood up so he was level with his friend.

"You know exactly what I mean," John told him. "Just like I know what you're really going to do."

"You don't know what you're talking about," Jack said glaring at John angrily. John reigned in his own anger knowing it wouldn't help the situation, if anything it would make things worse. He walked around the table to stand in front of Jack, placing himself between his friend and the exit he'd been heading to a moment ago.

"Do I have to say it Jack, do I have to spell it out for you in front of everyone?" John questioned, that was the last thing he wanted to do but if it was the only way to get through to Jack then so be it.

Jack stood up straight and stared John down; he wasn't going to back down. "You don't know anything."

"Drugs," John stated simply, there were a few gasps and whispers at the table but John ignored them. Instead he focused on Jack who, if it was possible, looked twice as angry as he had a moment ago. The drugs were clouding his judgement otherwise he would never have risked John exposing him to the others. "We know what you've been doing."

"We?" Jack questioned and then smirked looking to Elizabeth. "Oh of course, Elizabeth, the two of you are practically joined at the hip," Jack continued, he said it so vindictively that he actually made it sound like it was a bad thing. This had to be the drugs talking; the Jack he knew would never have done this. "It's actually kinda sad, pathetic to watch really."

"It wasn't just Elizabeth Jack," Sam said standing up; Teyla joined her a moment later.

"Oh so that's how it is," Jack stated looking over the three women before turning back to John. "You've all been talking about me behind my back."

"We're trying to help you not hurt you," Teyla told him and Jack scoffed.

"I don't want or need your help," he tried to push passed John but there was no way he was going to let him go just like that. John grabbed Jack's shoulder as he tried to pass and once more stepped into his path as he pushed him back a step. He hadn't even seen Jack's next move coming, probably because it was so out of character. Jack hit him, his fist connecting with John's face so hard it knocked him down. Jack didn't even look at him as he left.

Marcus was at his side a second later, Elizabeth right behind him. She moved his face to look at her and took a tissue out of her pocket holding it over his nose, he hadn't even realised it was bleeding. He shrugged Marcus off and took the tissue from Elizabeth as he stood up. Janet took a look at his nose batting his hand away when he tried to protest.

"It doesn't look like it's broken," she declared. Getting a fresh tissue she put it over his nose and made him sit down in the nearest chair. "It is bleeding a lot though."

"Teyla and Sam just went to talk to Jack," Marcus said. "Maybe I should go with them."

"Jack wouldn't hit them," Kate replied glancing at the students that were now watching the group.

"Just like he wouldn't hit John?" Marcus questioned.

"I'll head up there, I'll leave them to it unless he causes trouble," Ronon told them. John tried to get up to go with him but Janet pushed him back into the chair before he could even stand up properly.

* * *

Jack slammed the bedroom door shut behind him and stalked over to the drawer; he pulled out the faded shirt and unwrapped it from the almost empty glass vial. He had a bottle of water in the drawer too and he quickly opened it pouring a few drops in and shaking the bottle to mix it. He felt so desperate for the drug that he didn't bother to wait before he lifted it to his lips and then paused.

He'd hit John.

What the hell was wrong with him? He'd just hit his friend and walked passed him like it didn't matter. He hadn't really been paying attention but he was fairly sure there had been blood. He hadn't meant to hit him, it had been a reflex. John and the others had figured him out, confronted him and for a moment he'd panicked. It wasn't just that though, it was the drug, he was late with his dose and all he'd wanted was for John to get out of his way so he could go get it.

This wasn't him; the drugs were making him into something he wasn't. He'd nearly left Laura and Elizabeth to continue being drugged against their will so he could have the drug. Now he was hitting his friends for trying to help him, what the hell was he turning into?

He walked into the bathroom and tipped the bottle of water down the sink, it took all his will power not to stop. He threw the bottle across the room and lifted the glass vial in front of his face, there were probably two doses left and he was fairly sure he knew who one of the other suppliers was. He couldn't do it though, not if this was the kind of person it turned him into. Angrily, he threw the vial into the sink hard enough that it shattered; bits of glass flying about and the Allinyas drug trickling away down the drain.

He returned to the bedroom and sat down on the end of his bed. He'd been lucky Elizabeth had forgiven him for not coming forward about being drugged, he hadn't meant to say what he'd said about her and John anymore than he'd meant to hit John. If he hadn't left when he had then he dreaded to think what else he might have said to people. There was a knock at the door; he couldn't bring himself to answer. There was another knock before the door opened and he could hear footsteps entering the room warily. Great, he'd even made him friends afraid of him.

"Jack," a voice said, it was Sam and he looked up, she was stood there with Teyla. They both looked at him worried and wary and he couldn't decide which was worse, their pity or their fear.

"I can't stop," he admitted, all he wanted was the drug, the drug he'd just thrown down the damn sink.

"Yes you can," Teyla replied. "And we'll help you."

"But you have to let us," Sam added stepping forward and sitting on the bed beside him. She put her hand on his arm hesitantly and he let out a shaky breath. He wanted to stop; he wanted to be the person he was before, wanted things to go back to the way they had been before they'd met Cal. He just couldn't see how it was possible, even knowing what he'd done to John his body was still begging him to go find more of the drug. It didn't mean he couldn't try.

TBC


	22. Chapter 22

**sg1star – **Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter so much. I hope you enjoy this one too.

**Steph – **I'm glad you liked the sparky scene, lots of those little moments to come. As for the Jack part, I'm really glad you think I wrote that well, I'll admit I was a little worried about it. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Jammeke – **I was really hoping to capture Jack's conflict at the end of the last chapter and I'm glad to know it worked. It was kinda mean of John to expose Jack like that but in the end he didn't have much of a choice, he's not the kind of person who can sit by and watch while his friend sneaks off to do something like that. There will definitely be more Kolya throughout the series but not much in this part, he has big parts to play later. Thanks for the review.

**Bunnylass – **Thank you so much for the review. I was worried about getting Jack's struggle with the drug right and keeping it in character but at the same time he had to do something completely out of character to realise what he was doing to himself. I'm so glad to know that I got it right. Subtle sparky is what I'm going for at the moment, I'm glad you liked that. Thanks for the review.

**Belanna30 – **Thanks for the review, I'm glad you liked the little sparky bits, there's lots of those to come. The relationship between Jack and Sam is going to really start to progress now, especially since she's going to be there for him a lot now.

**Saphire – **Lots of sparky to come now, glad you liked it. Jack isn't the type of person to hurt his friends and realising that's exactly what he's doing is helping him to want to change. It'll be a struggle but we all know Jack is good at getting through those. Thanks for the review.

**Sparkly – **I know it was a pretty nasty chapter but that's what I was going for, thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this one.

**Kuro – **Thanks for the review, it is heart breaking to see Jack like this but he's a tough guy and he always comes out on top.

* * *

Chapter 22

He felt like he wanted to crawl out of his skin. Yesterday was the first dose he'd missed since he'd first accepted the drugs from Cal and he was due another one any time now. He was sweating and shaking, he couldn't sit still for more than a few minutes, if that, it was hell. His mind was screaming at him that he needed the drugs and his body was vehemently agreeing with it. If the drugs had still been in his room he would have taken them by now but since he'd poured them down the sink he had little choice but to ride this out...unless he found another supplier.

No.

He couldn't do that, he had to keep trying. Unless he wanted to be like this for the rest of his life then he had to do this now, it would only be harder further down the road. He walked through to the bathroom, washing his face in the sink and looking at his reflection in the mirror, he looked like crap. Another thing on his list of reasons not to leave his dorm room any time soon. It felt like he'd taken a step backwards not forwards, he'd locked himself away in his room with the curtains closed.

The knock at the door startled him so much it was probably pathetic, he could add nervous and agitated to his list of problems. He walked over and opened it; Sam and Teyla were stood on the other side with Ronon. Teyla was wearing a short skirt and sandals and Ronon and Sam weren't wearing their usual jackets so he guessed the weather was pretty nice outside.

"Let's go," Teyla said. "John and Elizabeth are waiting down by the river."

"Actually I think I'll just stay here," Jack replied and Sam raised an eyebrow at him.

"What makes you think you have a choice? We brought Ronon with us for a reason," Sam said. Teyla walked passed him into the room, she frowned at the mess and opened the curtains letting the light into the room.

"This isn't going to help you Jack, now come on," Teyla ordered and Jack sighed. Ronon looked more than prepared to drag him out of the room if the girl's told him to and he didn't doubt that they would. He followed Teyla back out of the room closing the door behind him. He got odd looks from the students he passed, most likely because he looked like he could keel over at any second which probably wasn't far off true.

"Aren't you two supposed to be in lesson?" he asked Ronon and Sam. He wasn't keeping very good track of time but he was pretty sure Teyla, John and Elizabeth had a free period but the other two should be in class.

"Yeah, we're taking the lesson off," Sam replied after a moment.

Jack felt a little bit guilty for that but the feeling wasn't going to help anything so he shook it off. John and Elizabeth were sat under one of the trees a little way back from the water. Jack stopped for a moment remembering what he'd done to John yesterday, what he'd said about them. John would be well within his rights to stand up and punch him right back and Elizabeth might not even want to talk to him.

"Come on," Sam said stopping with him as Teyla and Ronon joined the other two. "You're going to have to face them sooner or later."

Jack nodded and followed Sam, they wouldn't be here if they were still that angry with him and Sam was right, he couldn't hide from them forever. There was a slight bruise on John's nose, not a bad one and it was already fading but it was enough to make Jack feel guilty all over again. Elizabeth looked up at him as he came to a stop in front of them, she didn't say anything and that worried him more.

John stood up, Jack braced himself for a hit but there wasn't one, instead John just stood there. After a moment he reached a hand out to Jack, holding it there and waiting for Jack to take it. He did so somewhat hesitantly.

"I'm sorry, you were trying to help, I shouldn't have hit you," Jack said and then turned to look at Elizabeth. "Or said what I did, I didn't mean it."

Elizabeth nodded her head with a slight smile and Jack turned back to John. He nodded as well and sat back down, Jack let out a breath, that had been easier than he'd been expecting it to be. He looked down to where everyone was sitting and for the first time noticed the board game laid out there

"Scrabble?" he questioned as he sat next to Sam.

"Yep, consider it part of your therapy," she replied "We're going to play in teams, John and Elizabeth, Teyla and Ronon, me and you."

"Elizabeth's probably gonna kick all our asses again," Ronon grumbled. The last time they'd played this he'd learned that hard way that Scrabble was Elizabeth's game. The woman knew more words than anyone else he knew, in fact several times in the last game Jack had demanded they check her words in the dictionary because he'd never heard of them before, she'd been right every time.

John smirked "I'm so winning this game."

* * *

Sam and Teyla had decided it would be best not to tell Jack where they were going because if he knew then they wouldn't even have gotten him this far. Ronon had come along as well, the big guy seemed happy to play the muscles in this operation, if Jack refused to stay Ronon could make him a lot better than either Sam or Teyla could. They came up to the large building; she'd been there once before with Teyla and Elizabeth when they'd been looking for help for Jack.

They went inside, Ronon purposely going last so he could block the exit in case Jack tried to make a run for it. The corridors were mostly empty, this was one of the less used community centres but that worked in their favour. Going through the large wooden doors they were led into another corridor, this one with a lot more doors on it. Their goal was the third one on the left; Sam went ahead of the rest of the group standing in front of the glass window on the door. There were several people all sat on chairs in a circle talking. The man who seemed to be the leader of the group spotted her and nodded his head. Saying something to the others he got up and walked over to her.

"Miss Carter, how nice to see you again," the man greeted, Jack looked confused and she knew this part wasn't going to go over well. "You must be Mr O'Neill," he stated and Jack nodded slowly. "I'm Jordon, the leader of the support group here."

Jack's eyes snapped to Sam before he turned around to leave, Ronon stepped into his path and Jack glared at him, turning back around. "I'm sorry to have wasted you time Jordon but I don't need to be here."

Jordon remained patient; Sam had explained that it may take some convincing for Jack to stay. He'd told them he wouldn't be able to help Jack if he didn't want to be helped, Jack didn't just want the help, he needed it.

"Jack, you're not going to be able to get better on your own and there's only so much we can do to help you," Teyla told him. "Playing scrabble and monopoly is all well and good but that's not going to make you better."

"We spent a lot of time looking into this, we can pretty much guarantee they'll keep your being here quiet and you'll get the help that we can't give you," Sam added and Jack stared at her for a moment and she could tell from the look on his face that he was at least contemplating it. He shook his head and she sighed. "Jack, you're a mess, you haven't taken any of the drugs for four days and it's going to get worse before it gets better. These people aren't going to be judging you, they're all in the same boat you are, they're just going to help you."

"And if I refuse?" Jack questioned.

Teyla pointed behind him to where Ronon was standing, Jack sighed. "Fine, I'll give it a try."

"That's all we're asking for," Teyla replied.

"This way please Jack," Jordon gestured toward the room where the others were sitting and Jack reluctantly walked in. "The meeting will be finished in an hour," he told the rest of them before following Jack into the room. He grabbed a spare seat and added it to the circle, introducing Jack to the rest of the group. Sam couldn't hear what they were saying which she supposed was the point, these were supposed to be private meetings and this group seemed to take that seriously, they were lucky to have even found this place. Jack looked okay, uncomfortable and unhappy but okay.

Teyla put a hand on her shoulder "Come on, let's go get something to eat, we can come back for him later."

* * *

John knocked on Jack's door, Elizabeth standing by his side waiting patiently for Jack to answer. They had a really big problem, Jack had been missing too much school and if he missed another day Morlin was going to order an inquiry. Either they'd find out about Jack's addiction and suspend or expel him or they'd deem he had no good reason to miss anymore classes and make him attend or be expelled, either way, it wasn't looking good.

He knocked again but Jack still wasn't answering so he decided just to walk in there. The group had been constantly checking up on him, they didn't want to leave him alone in his room with nothing to do for too long, that was likely to lead to other things that none of them wanted. The room was dark, the curtains drawn and John remembered Teyla mentioning how many times she'd had to open them. Jack walked out of the bathroom looking amazingly like the living dead. His skin was pale and sweating, his hair was a matted mess and even in the dark John could see him shaking.

"Are you alright?" Elizabeth questioned stepping up next to John.

"Do I look alright?" Jack snapped and then took a breath. "No, I'm not, what's up?"

"We just came to tell you about something but it can wait until later," John told him and Jack glared at him.

"I don't need you all walking on eggshells around me, whatever you have to say just say it," Jack ordered and John raised an eyebrow at him.

"You look like hell," he ventured.

"I could have told you that, what did you come here for?" Jack questioned.

"Morlin and some of the other teachers have been asking questions, they want to know why you're missing so much school," Elizabeth explained. "We told them you were still pretty upset about your brother and to top it off you're not feeling well now."

"I think they only half believed us, they mentioned a school inquiry if you miss another day," John finished and Jack cursed kicking over the nearby trash can.

"Why can't they just leave me alone, I'm the son of a governor they should be grateful to have me in the school not finding reasons to kick me out of it," he stated angrily.

"At the end of the day Jack, the school has rules that all students have to obey, including the children of Governors," John pointed out. Jack wasn't the type to hold himself above everyone else because of his parents; the withdrawal from the drug was messing with him as much as the drugs themselves had been.

"Why does this stuff always have to happen to me?" Jack shouted grabbing his sociology book from the desk and hurling it across the room with no concern as to where it was going. It flew straight at Elizabeth; it took her so much by surprise that she actually yelped as she dropped to the floor, the book only just missing her head. John ran over to her and helped her up from the floor, the book was behind her having hit the wall and fallen.

"Are you okay?" he questioned and she nodded her head, he looked at the book, that thing could have taken her head clean off. Jack was still throwing stuff around the room, a few more text books had been introduced to the floor, what had been a tidy pile of clothes was now scattered all over and his lamp was in three pieces at the other side of the room. He was cursing and swearing, venting all the anger and frustration that had obviously been bottling up for a while.

"Jack," John shouted putting Elizabeth behind him."Jack."

He finally stopped and let himself drop to the floor where he stood, sitting on his knees and breathing heavily. As angry as John was at that moment he kept himself in check, he'd never been through withdrawal before so he had no idea how Jack was feeling. Still, if Jack put Elizabeth in the line of fire again he wasn't going to be nice about it.

"I'm sorry," Jack said breathlessly. "What the hell is this doing to me?"

* * *

The support group was helping more than he would have expected. He'd been to several meetings now and made a few friends, some of the people there were a lot like him, they'd been spiked and ended up addicted to the stuff. Jack had to wonder if it had been Cal or if there was someone else out there with a similar plan. He didn't ask though, naming suppliers wasn't allowed in the meetings, they weren't there to get justice they were there to get clean. The first week had been the hardest, there had been moments where he'd felt like he was going to die without the drug but that had passed now.

He still craved it, probably would for a long time yet but it was bearable now. As long as he kept himself busy, his mind occupied he didn't struggle so much. His friends had been good for that, even when it had just been a game of scrabble down by the river. They were avoiding the night club scene for a while; it probably wouldn't be a healthy place for him to be right now.

He was walking down by the river with Sam, her and Teyla had been amazing through this whole thing. Even more amazing was the fact that Elizabeth was still talking to him, even after he'd almost let Cal continue to drug her, insulted her and tried to take her head off with a giant book. In fact John had seemed angrier about the last one than she had. He hadn't had another episode like that since; the two of them had just been unlucky enough to catch him at his worst with bad news. He'd managed to get back to lessons, he had a lot of catching up to do but everyone seemed more than happy to help him.

"What was he like?" Sam questioned, this was the first time he'd really talked about Alex since his brother had been killed but apparently that was the underlying cause of his addiction, the bigger part of it anyway. He'd been told he needed to talk about it to someone, someone he trusted and figure out a better way to deal with it.

"He was... the kinda guy everyone wanted to be friends with, not just because he was the son of a governor but because of who he was. He always had a joke or some sarcastic comment even when it was really inappropriate. He had all these ideals about making the world better, he joined up to the protectorates guild to save lives," Jack told her and Sam smiled.

"He sounds a lot like you," she stated and John conceded the point, they'd always been a lot alike.

"I miss him," he admitted.

"Of course you do," Sam replied. "When my mother died, I missed her like crazy, still do."

"I didn't know you lost your mother, I'm sorry," he said and she shrugged.

"It was a while ago, I used to think that life was just going to stop because she was gone, there were days where I thought I wouldn't make it through," she informed him looking at the grass and he realised she was telling him something extremely personal, something she didn't tell anyone.

"How did you deal with that?" he asked her and she looked up and smiled.

"I realised that life does go on and my mother wouldn't want me to be miserable, especially not because of her. She'd want me to make something of my life, she'd want me to live, so I decided that's whet I was going to do," she explained.

"That easy?" he questioned.

"No," she shook her head. "It was hard as hell but I managed. It's never okay that she's gone and it'll never be okay that Alex is gone but things will get better."

"I hope so."

* * *

"Get your own," Vala snapped as Cameron tried to steal one of her fries. He gave her a pleading look and she sighed and pushed the small try in between them so he could share. At the other side of the table Laura was threatening Rodney with her lemon chicken, from the sound of it he'd been getting cocky and poor Radek had been on the receiving end so Laura had stepped in. Marcus finally took pity on the cowering man and took the chicken from Laura putting it back down on her plate and ignoring the glare he got. Teyla was talking to Janet, Daniel and Kate about the World of Magic Assignment all first years had been given. Ronon was having a staring competition with Teal'c which Sam and Carson had been roped into judging. John and Elizabeth were talking quietly to each other having their own private little conversation. Everything seemed to be getting back to normal.

Jack watched his friends with amusement, they really weren't the kind of people you'd expect to click together so well but somehow they did. They rubbed each other the wrong way sometimes, some more than others, but at the end of the day he'd never been closer to a group of people than he was to them and he hadn't even known them a year.

"Ronon blinked," Sam declared and Jack figured it was about time, he was surprised their eyes weren't bleeding from the strain by now. Teal'c gave a victorious smirk while Ronon tried to appeal the decision, Sam wasn't having any of it and the big guy started sulking.

"Aww, you're not a very good loser are you?" Teyla said as she turned around and patted his arm. She kissed his cheek and promised to buy him dinner at the weekend if he cheered up; he made a little effort to stop sulking.

Jack was fiddling with his pen, he still had a problem staying still but at least he could sit in the same place for more than an hour without feeling like he was going to go insane. As long as he had something to keep his hands busy he was usually okay. It was a good thing; he didn't think his teachers would appreciate him pacing during lessons.

"We'd better go," John said glancing at the clock. "Football practice."

Marcus, Jack and Ronon all got up with him and grabbed their things." I can't believe it's only four weeks until the guild competition starts. The whole year is flying by."

"Oh crap," Teyla said suddenly grabbing her things quickly. "I'm supposed to be in gymnastics training," she told them and dashed away before anyone could say anything.

"And on that note," Marcus began. "I think we should do the same, just more slowly."

TBC


	23. Chapter 23

**Jammeke – **Thanks for the review, I love writing the little team moments, it's a nice break from all the drama lol. I'm glad you're enjoying the story and I hope you enjoy this chapter too.

**Saphire – **It'll take time for Jack to be back to a hundred percent but he's getting there slowly. I'm glad you liked the last chapter and the little bits of Sparky in there. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Belanna30 – **I'm glad you liked the little bit of Jack and Sam in the last chapter, I hope you enjoy this one and thanks for the review.

**Dr Rosemary Weir – **Thanks for the review, sorry this update was a little late.

**Bunnylass – **It felt like a good time for some Jack and Sam and really how could this not bring them closer especially when Sam has been there for him so much. I'm glad you liked the end of the chapter, those family moments are fun to write. Thanks so much for the review.

**Steph – **Protective John is always great isn't he? Thanks for the review; I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Kuroima – **It didn't dawn on me that Sam had lost someone too and in that way could relate to Jack until I'd actually written it lol. I'm glad you liked the lighter moments of the last chapter, they were fun to write. Thanks for the review.

* * *

Chapter 23

"Without that division the governing family receives less respect than their position demands. If people aren't forced to look up to them then they won't respect them or follow their laws. The fact that they are of a higher social class gives people a visible reason to look up to them," Elizabeth argued. She was on a side of this argument she didn't agree with, in fact she adamantly disagreed with it but she wasn't required to agree, just argue the point.

"That's not true, the difference in social class gives people a reason to resent the governing family not respect them more," the other side countered. Daniel made a point about the governing family needing a way to discern themselves from the rest of their country which the other side quickly argued against. The ding of the bell interrupted the argument which was declared finished, the other team had won, oh well, you can't win them all.

"I think that was the toughest one yet," Daniel stated as they left the table. "I don't even particularly agree with it."

"Me neither but we have to be able to argue points we don't agree with or we're going to lose the inter guild competition," Elizabeth replied and Daniel nodded. "I can't believe there's less than three weeks left; it doesn't seem like enough time."

"You don't think we're ready?" Daniel questioned. "I think we're a pretty strong team."

"We are... for the most part," she told him gesturing to Jesse over in the corner. She had a habit of making stupid ridiculous comments that only hurt her side's chances of winning. Then there was Sean who tended to just sit and stare off into space for the entire duration of the debate. Both of them had been 'benched' for the actual competition, they were reserves for just in case the junior team needed someone to step in. They had six people on the team, only four were required at the table.

"Well hopefully we won't need them to actually take part," Daniel commented and then looked at her. "Was that mean?"

"A little but everyone's thinking it," she replied and he smiled.

"I'm gonna go talk to Jeremy," Daniel told her and she nodded watching as he ran off to talk to the senior in charge of the debate teams. She'd had enough of this classroom to last her a while, they'd been in there for two hours. She left and found John waiting outside for her, he gave her a smile and a small wave once he'd spotted her and she made her way over to him.

"What are you doing here?" she questioned and he shrugged.

"I was bored so I thought I'd come and meet you," he told her.

"I'm flattered," she replied as they made their way down the corridor.

"How'd practice go?" he asked.

"Good, my team lost though. Jeremy wants us to get in a lot more practice before the competition, he's scheduled us in for two practices a week, one for an hour and the other for two hours. On top of that I have spell casting practice and school work to do," she told him. She was going to be exhausted by the end of it all and a month after the guild competition ended final exams would be starting.

"I think someone out there is trying to kill us... slowly," John replied and she smacked his arm lightly.

"Don't say that, with our luck it might happen," she scolded and he rolled his eyes at her. It was unusual for him to be the one rolling his eyes at her; normally it was the other way around. They made their way to the cafeteria, it was close to closing time but they managed to get something to eat before the cranky dinner lady closed up early.

"That's disgusting," Elizabeth stated after the first spoonful of her soup. John reached over and grabbed the spoon, tasting it for himself.

"Hey," Elizabeth said taking her spoon back. "Don't eat my food."

"You don't like it," he reminded her.

"Yeah but since the cafeteria closed early, I have to eat it or starve," she told him and he switched their meals over, taking her soup and replacing it with his burger.

"There you go, you can have mine instead," he stated and she raised an eyebrow at him.

"You like that stuff?" she questioned.

"It's edible," he replied simply, she tried to switch the plates back; it wasn't fair for her to take his dinner. "Ah ah, you're eating that one."

"But..." she started to protest.

"No buts... do you always have to make everything difficult?"

* * *

His back slammed into the mat hard, his opponent trying to pin him but Teal'c had never been an easy guy to keep down. He got up and moved a step away from Louis to give himself time to recover. It was only a second before they were back into it again and this time it was Louis who slammed into the mat. Teal'c pinned him and held him in place even as the guy struggled against him. He was counted out and Teal'c was declared the winner.

They called it a day after that, practice for one guild event or another was already taking up way too much of everyone's weekend. Teal'c grabbed his kitbag and headed through to the showers. He didn't take long in getting cleaned up and changed; he still had school work to complete for tomorrow.

"You know," Ronon said as he came to stand beside him. "At some point in this busy schedule I need to remember to make room for eating and sleeping."

Teal'c nodded his agreement, he'd been up early that morning so he could go to the library and get in a few hours of research for his World of Magic assignment before practice. After this he was going to have to go work on the actual assignment. There just didn't seem to be any time for them to relax in the middle of all of this. They finished getting ready and headed for the cafeteria, Ronon went to sit with Teyla, Teal'c grabbed something to eat and went to his dorm room. The sooner he got started the sooner he'd be finished and he could check that off his very long 'to do' list.

* * *

Jack still couldn't get over how much his meetings with the support group were helping him. He always felt better after them, just knowing he wasn't the only one who was struggling with their recovery was a big help. The worst of the withdrawal had been and gone, he'd be lying if he said he was all better now but he would get there eventually. There were still moments where he craved Allinyas, moments where he wanted to lock himself away in his room with a supply of his drugs and stay there. Those moments were easier to ignore now and for the ones that weren't he would find himself something else to do. School assignments, studying, monopoly with his friends, he had a busy schedule and it wasn't hard to find something to fill up his time.

His friends deserved medals for everything they'd done for him, especially Sam and Teyla who had been there for everything. They'd met up with him after his meeting along with Ronon, Kate, Marcus and Janet. They were all going for dinner in town since it was a rare thing they had time for anything but lunch on the go, sitting down for a meal would be a nice change.

They'd decided to check out the new restaurant that had opened at the weekend; they'd heard nothing but good reports despite the fact that it was affordable for those on a student budget. Money wasn't really an issue for Jack, he was the son of a governor after all but most of his friends didn't have that luxury.

"Wow, this place is nice," Sam said as they walked inside. They were greeted by a woman in her waitress uniform, a black skirt and shirt, a clip board in her hand. She led them to their table, through the warmly decorated restaurant to the conservatory area. The walls and ceiling were made of glass, it was raining lightly outside and the pitter patter of it could be heard as it hit the glass.

They were all seated and handed menus and to Jack's surprise it really was as affordable as everyone had been saying. They'd have to come here again if this place was successful which – unless they weren't making as much money as they were obviously spending – he couldn't see a reason they wouldn't be. There were a lot of other people around, a few Jack recognised as other students, some elderly couples and young families, it seemed the place attracted just about everyone.

"Eight days until the guild competition," Marcus stated. "This year has gone so fast."

"To be honest, as excited as I am about it, I think I'll be glad when the competition is over," Janet replied with a tired sigh.

"I know what you mean," Laura said as she flicked through the menu. "These last few weeks have been pretty hectic, half the time I don't know whether I'm coming or going."

"Teal'c actually made himself a 'to do' list and a schedule to keep track of it all, looking back that might have been a good idea," Ronon told them all and Jack could see the merit behind the idea, he'd almost forgotten to do his History homework last week because he'd had to squeeze it in between two guild practices.

"It'll all be over soon," Laura stated.

* * *

Radek gave himself a lot of credit that he'd made it almost all the way through the year without bashing Sam's and Rodney's heads together. They were a clash of personalities and if Radek was honest he didn't blame Sam anywhere near as much as he blamed Rodney. The man could be arrogant and patronising and Sam would have to be a lesser person to just sit there and take it constantly. They were both smart, Sam a little more modestly so, and they both had completely different approaches to things. Sam would think outside the box more, come up with slightly more radical ideas if the situation called for it, Rodney stubbornly clung to what he knew.

"I'm telling you Rodney, if we add extra Tal root at the beginning it'll make the potion far more potent," Sam told him for what felt like the millionth time.

"And I'm telling you it'll explode," Rodney argued back.

"Not if we add the right amount," Sam replied, her irritation obviously growing the longer the argument went on for. They still had another twenty minutes of potions practice left and Radek didn't feel like dealing with them after they'd wound each other up more than they already had.

"Let's try both ways," Radek suggested diplomatically. "Rodney, you make it with the recommended amount of Tal root, Sam you make it with extra. We can see which one works best rather than arguing about it for the next twenty minutes... and probably after that too."

"Sorry Radek," Sam apologised and Rodney muttered his own apology under his breath as well. Radek sighed in relief and went about helping them both with their separate potions in the end Sam's didn't explode and she'd been right about it being better than when it's made with the recommended measurements. Rodney was grudgingly forced to admit defeat and Sam simply thanked him and went about cleaning up her potion equipment.

"One of these days I'm going to prove her wrong," Rodney mumbled as Sam went to take her things to the sink to clean them.

"Well, not today," Radek replied.

"Who's side are you one anyway?" Rodney questioned in annoyance and Radek sighed yet again.

"I'm not on anyone's side Rodney," Radek told him.

"But hypothetically, if you had to pick a side..." Rodney began but Radek cut him off before he could even ask.

"I'm not picking a side Rodney," he stated and then changed his mind. "You know what; yes I am picking a side, my side."

Radek walked off then with some of the equipment that needed to be put away leaving Rodney to stand there by himself. How did he get landed with babysitting these two on a regular basis, what had he done in life to deserve that?

* * *

The river was becoming a popular spot as the weather continued to warm up, it was getting more and more crowded and less easy to study there. Still, the nice weather meant it was the best place to go and early mornings were usually pretty quiet. There were only a few days left before the inter-guild competition started and it seemed to have taken over the whole school. There were already plans for those who weren't taking par to ditch classes and go watch their favourite guilds.

"Hey guys, look what I've got," Laura said as she came running over with Janet and Vala. She dropped down onto the grass with the rest of the group and handed out several pieces of paper. "The schedules for the guild competition, they just started handing them out to guild members and posting them around the school."

"First football game is on Monday, Atala vs. Tralis," Jack read. "I saw them practicing the other day; they've got a good team."

"Yeah well so do we," Lorne replied as he looked through the schedule.

"Elizabeth, are you even interested?" Jack said as he looked at the schedule sitting on the grass beside her.

"Of course I am," she told him not looking up from the book she was skimming through. "I just need to find out if this book has what I need for... ah, there it is," she continued as she book marked the page and put the book down. She picked up the schedule, her eyes scanning the page quickly to find the events she was involved in.

"Laura, we have to go," Vala stated as she glanced at her watch. "We have netball practice in ten minutes."

"No rest for the wicked," Laura sighed. She and Vala stood up and walked away from the group taking their schedules with them.

"Oh that's just great, first Potions competition is against Corlith," Rodney complained. "They've got the second best team in the school. You think they could ease us in a little."

"Someone has to go up against them," Sam pointed out. "You're not worried they might beat us are you."

"No, they're not anywhere near as intelligent as I am..." Rodney paused when he saw the looks both Sam and Radek were giving him. "I mean as _we_ are" he corrected and went back to studying the schedule.

"I suppose, I should head to the library," Sam stated. "I have an assignment due on Tuesday and I'd rather have it out of the way while I still have a moment's free time."

"Hold on," Jack said grabbing his bag and jumping up from the floor to follow her. "I'll come with you; I need to get my own homework done."

"No rest for the wicked," Sam echoed Laura's words as the two of them headed back through the trees toward the library.

TBC


	24. Chapter 24

**Steph – **Yes I know exactly who you're talking about lol. I'm glad you liked the John and Elizabeth scene as well as Rodney and Sam's bickering, poor Radek doesn't have it easy does he? Thanks for the review and I hoe you enjoy this chapter.

**Belanna30 – **I'm glad you liked the John and Elizabeth bit in the last chapter. The answer is soon, very, very soon, I'm trying to build up to it now so that it all makes sense when it finally does happen. I've had the actual moment planned out for ages, just not how to get there lol. I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter and thanks for the review.

**Dr Rosemary Weir – **It's always nice to have normal problems, you don't realise how much easier they are until you've dealt with something worse lol. Thanks for the review.

**Kuro – **Thanks for the review, poor Radek indeed, I feel almost mean for putting him in the middle of those two. I'm glad you liked John and Elizabeth's part; I'm trying to build up to the big part now.

**Saphire- **Lots of the guild competition in the chapter and probably in the next too. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

* * *

Chapter 24

The crowd cheered as Tralis scored another point putting them two points in front of Atala. There was singing and chanting going on from spectators and even the sudden downpour hadn't stopped everyone from enjoying themselves. John managed to get possession of the ball and after dodging a few players kicked the ball to a team mate who was able to score. This was proving to be a tougher game than they'd been expecting and they were going to have to kick things up a notch if they wanted any chance of winning.

The whistle blew for half time and the two teams went to their separate corners so to speak. John walked over to join the rest of his team, grabbing his bottle of water and drinking it.

"They're kind of kicking our asses," Jack commented as he drank his own water and then poured a load of it over his head which seemed kind of unnecessary given the rain that was still coming down on them.

"We're only one point behind," Tommy stated, he was on the bench, had been watching the whole game from the sidelines along with two other players. The senior who was basically the team's coach looked at him for a moment and then nodded his head.

"Alex, I want you to come off," he said and continued before Alex could protest. "I saw that tackle earlier, you've been struggling ever since. Tommy, you're going on in his place."

Tommy nodded and their 'coach' ran off to inform the referee, who in this case was Coach Holman, that they were making a substitution. Half time didn't last anywhere near long enough and before they knew it the team were heading back onto the pitch. The substitution was announced along with those the other team had decided to make and the game continued for all of five minutes before they were forced to stop again.

One of the Tralis players had been injured in a tackle, he was rolling about on the floor holding his knee and the medics came on to check him out. John stood with Marcus and watched from a distance as they assessed his injury and then helped him to limp off pitch. When the game continued Atala managed to get possession of the ball and Jack made a shot at the net only to have it saved by the keeper. The minutes kept ticking on with neither team scoring and as they reached the end of the game Atala were still a point behind.

Coach Holman blew his whistle to signal the end of the match and John cursed inwardly at having lost their first game. He congratulated the few Tralis players he passed by on his way over to Jack, Ronon and Marcus. Three Tralis players ran passed him shirtless, cheering and obviously pleased with their win.

"I can't believe they beat us," Jack stated.

"It's not that bad, it's just one game," Marcus told him sympathetically. All teams had to play each other and the two teams with the most points at the end would face off against each other. One loss wasn't going to knock them out of the competition but it did mean they were going to have to work harder.

Everyone made their way inside and John was glad for the hot shower that was waiting for him. He was soaked from the rain and now that he wasn't playing he was getting cold too. He didn't take his time in the shower though, he knew at least some of his friends would be waiting around outside in the rain and he didn't want to leave them out there longer than necessary. Jack, Ronon and Marcus obviously thought the same thing because they were all showered and dressed even before he was. They dumped their kits into the laundry basket that had been left for them; hopefully it would be washed and returned to them in time for their next game in two days.

As he'd suspected most of his friends were waiting for them when they left the gym building. Teyla, Elizabeth, Kate and Janet were standing under Umbrellas which didn't seem to have done them much good because they were soaked anyway. Everyone else looked like drowned rats but John kept the observation to himself.

"Laura and Vala have gone to get ready for their netball match," Carson told him.

"We thought we'd go and get something to eat before the game starts," Teyla added and the group headed toward the cafeteria. John idly wondered how many people were actually in the Spell Casting lesson he was supposed to be heading to but then he spotted Professor Penrose amongst the people still hanging around the pitch and guessed that no one was in the lesson.

* * *

The Grenelith member hit the mat hard and Ronon had him pinned in place quickly. It had been a tough match and they were both exhausted but Ronon had a few advantages, his size just being one of them. The referee counted Grenelith out and there was cheering all around the gym. That had been the last match of this round and Atala had won easily. Ronon stood up and offered his hand to his Grenelith opponent who accepted it and congratulated him before going to rejoin his team.

Ronon didn't have to go anywhere to get back to his team because they were already swarming him. Teal'c high fived him while everyone else just cheered and clapped each other on the back. That was their third round of wrestling and so far they had two wins and one loss. There were a lot more rounds left to go but Ronon felt confident the team would make it to the finals. He felt someone tap him on the shoulder and turned around to see Teyla stood behind him with a grin on her face.

"Congratulations," she said as she hugged him and he smiled and hugged her back.

"You were great," Jack said as he and some of the others came up behind Teyla, he turned to Teal'c. "Both of you."

"The first week of the competition is over and we're actually doing pretty well," Cameron stated as some of the Atala team started chanting a victory song. They were all second and third years so he guessed it was something they'd come up with before Ronon and Teal'c had come to the school.

"Even if we have been to about five lessons in the whole week," Laura pointed out not seeming overly concerned with the number of lessons they'd all missed.

"Alright why don't you two go and get a shower, I hate to break it to you but you both stink," Vala told them bluntly.

"We're thinking of heading into town taking some time off from our busy schedule to enjoy ourselves, girls can go shopping, guys can go to the pub and we can meet up later for something to eat," Jack said and both Teal'c and Ronon nodded their agreement despite being tired from their match, a little time away from everything would probably do everyone some good.

"We shouldn't be long," Teal'c told them before heading toward the changing rooms. Ronon dropped a quick kiss on Teyla's head before he followed after him.

"I think you're, what's the word..." Teal'c began with a grin that had Ronon knowing he wasn't going to like whatever his friend had to say. "Whipped."

"I am not whipped," Ronon responded.

"Yes you are," Teal'c stated simply and then walked off to his locker. The more Ronon thought about it the more he thought maybe Teal'c was right.

* * *

John knocked on the door to Teyla and Elizabeth's room. The rest of the group were ready and waiting to go for dinner in town and John had volunteered to come and find out what was keeping the two girls. Teyla answered the door dressed in sweat pants and a baggy shirt and John figured she wasn't quite ready to go yet.

"Everyone's waiting," he told her and she nodded her head as she walked back into her room gesturing for John to follow her.

"I had to finish my homework, I'll be ready soon," she stated as she disappeared into the bathroom closing the door behind her. Elizabeth was sat at the desk reading something, a letter maybe. At least she looked like she was ready to leave, probably just waiting for Teyla. She had her back to him and John doubted she'd actually registered his presence.

"What are you reading?" he questioned startling her and he frowned slightly when she jumped.

"Nothing," she told him. "Just a letter from my father."

He would have questioned her further but she tucked the letter in between two books almost as though she wanted to hide it and he decided to let the matter drop. "So Teyla's taking her time," he said instead.

"She usually does, she wanted to finished her General Magic homework before we left to she's running a little behind," Elizabeth told him.

"Well, she said she'd be ready soon," John replied.

"I wouldn't count on it," she stated.

"I heard that," Teyla's voice called from the bathroom and Elizabeth smiled and shook her head. John had always thought she had a beautiful smile; it was just a shame that she rarely showed it. He wondered if maybe the letter had something to do with that, if maybe it was something about her family that made her so distant and untrusting of people. He was glad that for some reason, whether she realised it or not, she seemed to trust him, at least he hoped she did.

"You look nice," he said and then inwardly frowned at himself; he hadn't actually meant to say that out loud. However the small blush that crept up her neck was enough for him not to want to take it back.

"Thanks," she replied and he held her gaze a moment longer until Teyla came out of the bathroom.

"Will you to stop staring at each other and come on, we're going to be late," Teyla ordered grabbing her purse and heading for the door now dressed for dinner. Elizabeth rolled her eyes and stood up to follow Teyla out of the room. John hurried after them making sure the door closed behind him before he caught up with them both.

* * *

The debate seemed to be lasting forever, in reality it had been going for the same length of time all the others had gone on for but this one just seemed to drag on. Maive were good opponents, not the best but my no means the worst. They'd put up a good fight, argued their side well but in the end they were getting their asses handed to them by the Atala team. John had been watching the debate since the beginning, he'd watched them all except for the one against Tralis the other day, he'd had a football match against Lytrus at the same time.

Both Elizabeth and Daniel appeared to be in their element at these things both arguing better than their older team mates. John had known Elizabeth less than a year but he already knew she was good with words, great at using them to get her point across. It was really no wonder she'd been put on the debate team and more than once he'd heard her referred to as their 'secret weapon'. It wasn't much of a secret now though, in a verbal war Elizabeth could kick ass with the best of them.

"Magic is a gift given to all people, why should only a select few be allowed to use it?" one of the girl's from the Maive team questioned.

"Even with the current system in place people still misuse magic, use it for their own gain at the expense of others or even in criminal activities. By making it law that only those with a license can use magic the government has more control of who uses it. There are exceptions, people who use it without license but the fact that it's illegal deters a lot people," Daniel argued. At the beginning of this debate John hadn't been sure which side he agreed with. Part of him had always thought it unfair that only those with a license could use magic, that it should be available to all. Atala had won him over though; their argument for the law had been a lot more convincing than Maive's argument against it.

"People who use magic to break the law aren't concerned with the fact that it's illegal, their already breaking the law by being involved in criminal activities," Maive shot back.

"To get a license you have to be trained, those who don't have licenses are untrained in the use of magic and therefore can't use it to its full potential. If that training was available to all, if parents taught their children then criminals would have far more powerful magic at their disposal, they could hurt a lot more people that way," Elizabeth said. "By making people work toward a license along the pathways the council have set those who are being trained can be monitored and their training stopped if they exhibit signs that they'll misuse their magic."

"People find ways around that, there are always other ways to be trained, illegal as they are. If someone is determined enough they will find what they need to. The people that suffer from the magic licensing laws are those that choose to obey the law and there's no threat of them using their magic for..."

The Maive team was cut of by the buzzer that signalled the end of the match, the debate was over and the judges were deliberating between themselves. The audience erupted in noise, people talking about the match or whatever they'd been keeping quite about for the last hour. The teams remained at their tables, talking quietly amongst themselves as they waited for the judge's decision. It didn't take them long, a few minutes later they were calling for silence and the room fell quiet.

"After deliberation, taking into account the arguments presented by both sides and the manner in which they were presented we rule... Atala as the winners."

The main hall erupted in sound once again, cheering from Atala supporters and discontent from the Maive supporters. In the middle of the room the Atala team were congratulating each other and the Maive team were grudgingly adding their own congratulations. John made his way through the crowd with Teyla, Jack and Sam in tow.

"That went well," John stated as he reached Elizabeth and Daniel.

"It could have gone better," Daniel replied "But then we had her on the team today," he continued gesturing to the girl who'd been sat on the end of the table. John had noticed she'd barely said anything during the entire debate and the few times she had opened her mouth it was to say something really stupid.

"Let's just hope Mike's better by the next round otherwise we're in danger of losing, Corlith has a good team," Elizabeth stated.

"We can only hope," Daniel replied.

* * *

"How do you think the baseball game is going?" Kate asked and Carson shrugged, really, how was he expected to know? He'd been sat in Magical Ethics with her for the entire lesson. "I really wish we'd gone to watch the game, learning about gaining magic doesn't quite equal the entertainment value."

"We can't miss every lesson," Daniel pointed out. "The guild competition lasts three weeks, if we missed every lesson that conflicted with Atala's rounds in the competition we'd fall a long way behind."

"And we have the end of year exams in six weeks," Carson added. "As soon as this competition is over I'm going to have to do some serious cramming."

"We all will," Daniel replied. "Whose bright idea was it to have the guild competition right before exams?"

Carson shrugged again. "All I know is I've had no life for the last month and I'm not going to get it back until after exams are over with."

"And the best part is," Kate began. "We get to do it all again next year."

Both men groaned at that and Daniel dropped his head to the table. "And I thought Magic School was going to be fun."

"Daniel, your head is on my text book," Kate stated and Daniel shifted his head to the side so that she could take her book. She moved it away so she could continue to read through it and make notes on the ethical use of gaining magic."Do you think they're winning?"

"Kate, love, I really don't know," Carson told her as he made his own notes. "I've been hear with you the entire time, I don't know anymore than you do."

"I was just asking for your opinion," she muttered to herself. Daniel finally lifted his head off the desk to continue with his class notes.

* * *

This was proving a little too easy, Lytrus obviously hadn't put in the work that all of the other guilds had put in at least not as far as the General Knowledge competition was concerned. Atala was leading by a clear fifteen points and the current round was coming to an end. There was less then twenty seconds left and only one more round after this one, they'd have to answer every question right and hope Atala got at least half of theirs wrong if they wanted a chance at winning now.

Kate answered Atala's question quickly and easily watching as the scoreboard changed to add a point on for their team. Lytrus answered their question correctly and the scoreboard changed once again as the questioner turned back to Atala. This time Carson answered the question, one about the history of law which they'd gone over last night and Kate was suddenly glad for it because it had been their weakest area.

"In which country is the Night wolf found?" the questioner asked Lytrus and for a few seconds they all looked at each other lost.

"Illaris," one of them finally answered and seemed to old their breath as they waited to be told whether or not they were right. The questioner informed them they were correct and then turned his attention to Atala again.

"How many Governors currently sit on the Alteran council?" he asked.

"54," Daniel replied immediately, with Sam's father being a member of the council and Daniel a close family friend council politics were something he had a pretty good knowledge of.

"How many Alteran Councillors currently sit on the Alteran council?" the questioner asked, a spin off from the last question which should have made it easier, but Lytrus once again looked completely clueless.

"15," one of them guessed after several wasted seconds.

"Incorrect," the questioner stated. "Question passes to Atala."

"12," Daniel answered correctly before the questioner moved on to Atala's question.

"Which two countries went to war with each other exactly 10 years ago this week and remain at war today?" he asked.

"Terrana and Bolaris," Cameron replied and Kate had to wonder if they were going to encounter any questions they didn't know the answer to in this round. The last round has been pretty tough even if they had come out of it ahead and their previous matches had all seemed a lot harder than this one but maybe they were just getting better at it.

"When the governor of a country dies or steps down who does the position traditionally pass onto?"

"The oldest child of the previous governor," Lytrus answered.

"What plant based chemical was banned in1987 under the dangerous substances act because it acts as a lethal poison?" Atala were asked and there was a second where none of them replied and Kate had to think hard because she knew the answer to this one.

"Kesdra Extract," she replied relieved the answer had come to her.

The buzzer sounded before the questioner could get through his next question and he announced the end of the round along with the score. They had a five minute break now before the final round but Kate felt confident that Atala had won this. The four members of the first year team stepped down from their podium and went to sit down. The senior in charge of training them was stood there with a grin on his face congratulating them on a good round. Many of the other Atala's were there as well, the second year team were all preparing for their own match which started right after the first year match ended.

"You're kicking their asses," Marcus said as he stepped out of the audience with Vala, John, Elizabeth and Sam.

"Yeah, I don't think they have a chance of winning now, not unless you get every question wrong and they get every one right which from the look of it isn't likely," John added.

"You've gotta wonder if they actually put any work into it because so far they've played four matches and lost them all," Vala said taking a seat with the team as though she was on it.

"Elizabeth and I are going to head over to the gym to see how Ronon and Teal'c are doing with their wrestling matches," John stated. "We'll meet you in the cafeteria and you can tell us just how much you won by."

"See you later," Kate waved as they left and the teams were called back to the podiums. "Wish us luck."

"Like you actually need it," Lorne said sarcastically.

TBC


	25. Chapter 25

**Bunnylass – **Thanks for the review, I actually really enjoyed writing the guild competition parts and there's some more in this chapter. It's good to know the events they're involved in mostly reflect their characters. John and Elizabeth are _always_ too cute not to love lol. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Dr Rosemary Weir – **I'm going for a slow burn with John and Elizabeth but it's time for the big build up now. I'm glad you're enjoying the competition and thanks for the review.

**Belanna30 – **Teyla and Ronon are kind of cute aren't they? Lol. Thanks for your patience with Sparky but I promise you're going to be seeing a lot more of it in the chapters to come. There's more guild competition in this chapter so I hope you enjoy it, thanks for the review.

**Steph – **Thanks for the review, I'm glad you liked the sparky moment and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Saphire – **I'm trying to keep some mystery about Elizabeth's past and her family so I won't be revealing what was in the letter, not yet anyway. I'm glad you're enjoying the guild competition and thanks for the review. I hope you like this chapter.

* * *

Chapter 25

Sam stood in front of the board several feet away waiting for the signal. The supervisor nodded at her telling her she could proceed when she was ready. She looked at the board focusing on the light bulbs and how much power it was going to take to light them all up. One of the Tralis members had blown up half the bulbs on the last board when he put too much power into his spell. Satisfied that she'd judged it right she took her stance holding her hands out in front of her.

"Luminos," she said focusing on the spell, on what she wanted to do. Light came from her hands shooting across to the board and lighting up a significant amount of it. The supervisor came forward and assessed the board announcing her 93 percent success.

She breathed a sigh of relief; this round of spell casting was going really well. It helped that almost all of the team hadn't been involved in any other areas of the competition yesterday. There had only been a wrestling match in the afternoon and only Angelo had been involved in that. The chance to rest seemed to have done everyone some good. She walked over to sit on the bench with the rest of her team while the board was reset for the next person. The main hall was packed full of students who had come to watch. She could see most of her friends there except for Marcus, Janet and Laura who had been forced to go to their potions lesson. Trel had threatened everyone with detention if they were caught skipping his lessons so that they could watch the competition. The only ones who had been excused were those actually taking part in whatever event was going on at the time.

Elizabeth was up now, Sam and Teyla wished her luck as she stepped up to the board. She waited to get the go ahead before she cast the spell, an orb of light hitting the board and lighting up the bulbs. The supervisor announced her 92 percent success as she rejoined her team and one of the Tralis players took their turn.

"We're in the lead," Teyla stated as she looked over to the score board and did the math. Tralis closed the gap in the scores quite significantly but still remained behind Atala. One of the year three Atala's took their turn and the light bulb section was closed.

They moved onto the maze then, the goal was to move the wooden bock through the maze without touching it. The quicker you got through the more points you got and if the blocked stopped moving for more than five seconds you were disqualified from that section of the round. Tralis was up first several of their team taking their turn, one was disqualified and the others all made it through. The first Atala up was also disqualified and then it was Teyla's turn. She stood beside the maze and cast the spell to move the block. She guided it around several corners finding a dead end and quickly going back the other way. She made it through the maze with the fastest time yet and then rejoined the team. Everyone else took their turns, both Sam and Elizabeth made it through the maze but a few others were disqualified. The end of the match was called and Atala had just managed to keep their lead winning the round.

There was cheering and congratulations; this meant that Atala would be in the finals either against Corlith or Tamsa depending on the result of Tamsa's last game. If Tamsa won they'd be in the finals but if they lost Corlith would make it through instead.

"Guess that means we're in the finals on Friday," Teyla stated.

"Great, the same day as the debate finals," Elizabeth said sarcastically.

"Don't forget we have a Sociology test that day too, professor says if we miss is we get detention," Teyla reminded her and Elizabeth sighed.

"One day I might actually get my life back."

* * *

Jack managed to run around one man keeping the ball close to his feet but the next two guys were going to be a problem. He glanced to his left; Lorne was running along beside him not too far away but far enough that a quick pass would allow him to get around the two players currently blocking the way. He made the pass, the ball rolling along the ground to Lorne who had no problem taking over. He darted passed the two men and manoeuvred around a third before passing the ball off to another team mate who was able to score. Cheers erupted around the pitch from both Atala Players and supporters. There was the occasional 'boo' from some of the Corlith supporters but the players at least had the grace to be quiet as the glared.

Corlith had the ball once they were going again. Kolya beat several Atala players to score putting Corlith one point behind Atala. Another Corlith player scored after that making the score even with less than ten minutes left of the game. This was the final; whoever scored next would most likely win the inter-guild competition.

Corlith was able to get possession of the ball and looked like they were about to score but the keeper was able to save it, barely. Atala had the ball then and with only a few minutes left they had to score quickly, both teams were tired and extra time could honestly go either way. One player made an amazing run down the field before passing the ball to John. He manoeuvred around one player before coming face to face with another. He made like he was about to go right and then changed to left so quickly the other player had no chance of following the movement in time to do anything about it. John flew passed him and kicked the ball toward the goal, for a moment it looked like the keeper was going to save it but it skimmed passed his finger tips and hit the back of the net.

There was cheering once again as the game played out the last couple of minutes. The whistle sounded to signal the end of the game and Atala was announced the winners. The announcement was met by more cheering as well as complaints from the Corlith supporters and a few of the players. Most of the Corlith team were graceful losers congratulating the Atala players on a good game. Some of them, Kolya included, complained to the referee or left the pitch without a word.

The Atala players were all celebrating, jumping up and down, hugging and a few shirts had been lost. The supporters were making their way onto the pitch to join the celebration. Most of the Atala guild had been present for the finals and they were as excited by the win as the team was.

"Congratulations," Sam said as she hugged Jack.

"That was a good game," Laura stated. "I can't stop long though, Vala and I have to go and get ready for our netball game."

"We'll be there as soon as we've cleaned up and changed," Lorne told her. He, Jack, Ronon and John were covered in dirt and grass stains as well as a layer of sweat.

"So that's second place in Junior wrestling and first place in junior boy's football, we're not doing too badly," Cameron stated. Ronon and Teal'c started sulking at the reminder of their loss yesterday until John clapped Teal'c on the back.

"Don't worry, second is a good place, besides you only lost on points neither of you were actually pinned," he reminded them. The wrestling finals had gone on forever until the judges had called an end to both Ronon's and Teal'c matches, at the rate they were going someone was going to get killed, or possibly fall asleep.

"And there's always next year," Vala called back as she and Laura left the group.

"We'd better go and get cleaned up," Jack said and his three team mates nodded, the four of them heading toward the changing rooms with the rest of the team.

* * *

The gym was completely packed, five guilds had qualified for the gymnastics finals and supporters from all five had come to give their support. Once it was decided the room had been sufficiently over filled the seniors who had volunteered to help out with the competition had to start turning students away. Thankfully the centre of the room had been kept clear of spectators, only the junior teams and the volunteers were allowed there; even the judges had been restricted to their table.

Teyla stood with the rest of the Atala Junior team, she was the only first year in the bunch but she felt sure enough of herself. She stretched out her muscles, she'd been worried when she'd done the vault that she might have pulled something, fortunately she hadn't but she wasn't going to risk it again so she stretched herself out more. The beam was up next and she'd be lying if she said she wasn't nervous but she'd done well in the qualifying rounds and that boosted her confidence. Tralis was currently taking their turn and Atala would be up next starting with her. She could see her friends amongst the crowds; they'd arrived early to be sure they got seats and had ended up almost at the front. Ronon gave her a small wave from where he was sitting and she smiled as she returned the gesture. His soft side was something he only ever seemed to show to her.

The last junior Tralis gymnast took her turn and the judges announced the scores. Atala was called up and Teyla's name sounded throughout the gym. It was quiet as she approached the beam and climbed up on to it; she stood for a moment to ensure she had her balance and took a deep breath to calm her nerves. She moved then doing a hand stand slowly and landing on her feet before doing another one. She flipped backwards only just regain her footing and then doing what looked like cart wheels but with just one hand. After several more flips and twists she did three consecutive back flips off the beam. She landed on her feet taking a second to regain her balance before she stood up straight. She rejoined her team as the judges announced her score, not her best but still good. The next Atala girl was called up and Teyla relaxed, the next event was the bars and that was her strong suit. The rest of the Atala team did pretty well and Maive was up next, by the end of the beam event Atala was in second place behind Lytrus.

Tralis took their turn on the bars before Teyla was called up she powdered her hands and moved to stand in front of the bars. When she was ready she jumped for the lower bar and got her body enough momentum to spin around it completely a few times. She let go of the bar and turned her body to grab the higher one. After several more spins around the bar she let go with one hand to turn herself around doing it again on her next spin. She gathered up some speed then before she let go completely and twisted her body around in the air before gripping the bar again before she could fall. When she was finally finished with all of her tricks she did several more twists in the air before landing more or less steadily on the mat.

When all of the guilds had taken their turn on the bars Atala had taken first place with only one more event to go. As fun and exciting as the guild competition had been Teyla was glad it was almost over. This was her last match, the spell casting finals had been yesterday and Atala had come third. Once this gymnastics final was over she was done and she could concentrate on the end of year exams which were just over a month away now.

* * *

"Alright, hand it over," Elizabeth ordered holding her hands out to John who kept the book out of her reach as he flicked through the pages.

"I just want to see what you're reading," John replied as he moved to keep the book away when she tried to lunge for it. "History of the Ancients," John read the title of the book still keeping it from her. "Wow, this is really boring," he continued as he read a random page. "How can you read this stuff?"

"It's interesting," she told him and made another grab for the book.

"You and I have very different definitions of interesting," John stated.

"Why are you always stealing my books?" she questioned as John finally relented and gave it back to her. Across the table Teyla was laughing at her and Ronon was just ignoring the pair in favour of the thumb war he was having with Teal'c. John took a moment to raise his eyebrow at them when Ronon attempted to cheat and Teal'c ended up beating him. Ronon demanded a rematch and Teal'c seemed only too happy to comply.

"Because it's the only way anyone gets to see your face," John returned and Elizabeth rolled her eyes at him as she slid the book into her bag. John feigned a look of shock and she swatted his arm, ignoring his fake cry of pain.

"You're pathetic," she told him.

"Yeah but you wouldn't want me any other way," he replied and she smiled and shook her head.

"Probably not," she answered which seemed to surprise Teyla as well as him. "I should probably head to the library, there's a bunch of text books I want to get my hands on before they're all gone. You can guarantee that once the competition is over everyone will be turning their attention to studying for the exams."

"Hold on, I'll come with you," John said as she stood up and followed after her.

"It's funny, I'll bet you never voluntarily set foot in a library before you came here," Elizabeth stated and John laughed.

"What can I say, you're a bad influence on me," he replied as he held the cafeteria door open for her and then followed her through.

"And you're a bad influence on me, I never would have cut classes before I met you, I think it might be best if we stop spending time together," Elizabeth joked and John once again feigned hurt though he had to admit, he really didn't like the notion.

"But Elizabeth, what would I do with myself if I didn't have you around?" he questioned humorously. "Who else would I drive crazy?"

"Jack?" she offered and John shrugged.

"That's a possibility but he's not nearly as pretty as you," John stated and once again enjoyed the slight blush that he'd learned always crept up her neck when someone complemented her. He did it on purpose now because it was just too damn adorable to resist.

* * *

The buzzer sounded and everyone put their pens down. One of the members of the Tralis team tried to continue writing but a stern look from the supervisor had her complying quickly. Each team's papers were collected and taken to the judges for marking. There were whispered conversations around the room as everyone waited for the judges to announce the results of the written portion of the Potions final.

"I think that went well," Radek said quietly.

"That depends on whether my answer to question four was right or Sam's, if it was mine then it didn't go as well as you think," Rodney stated bitterly. They'd bickered for almost five minutes over the question but Sam had known she was right and Rodney had been forced to back down or lose more time.

"Stop complaining Rodney, besides we used your answer to question twelve over mine and Radek's," Sam pointed out. In truth she hadn't really been all that certain about the answer so she'd opted to go with Rodney's since he'd been so adamant he was right.

The judges announced the scores and Sam did the math figuring out they'd gotten one question wrong but she wouldn't know which until later. It put them in first place though and Sam felt like they might actually be able to win this thing. The teams moved on to the practical portion, the equipment and material were all laid out for them, each team had their own set along with identical lists of potions. There were no instructions or ingredients just five potion names that they would have twenty minutes to make. The judges would score each time on how many they completed correctly and how well they made them.

They were given instructions and the buzzer sounded again, the signal for them to start and Sam picked up the sheet reading out the name of the first potion. Rodney and Radek started moving ingredients to one side, the ones they knew to be in the potion while Sam's mind started trying to remember the method and order.

"This is first" Rodney said as he picked up a small transparent bottle of purple liquid. "5ml."

Rodney started measuring the purple liquid out and poured it into the beaker while Radek started to work on the next ingredient. "Tam extract," he said to himself. "How much was it?"

"7ml... no it was 8," Sam replied as she switched on the burner ready to heat the potion. Radek added the right amount to the beaker, placed it over the burner and within a minute heat bubbles were beginning to appear. "Alright Illaris powder next."

It was interesting how well they actually worked together when they had to. Normally at this point there'd be bickering, Sam and Rodney would have somehow annoyed each other and poor Radek would be stuck in the middle. They were actually working pretty fluidly though and their first potion was done in less then six minutes. They were able to get all five potions done within the time limit, barely. There was only one other team that managed to finish all potions before the final buzzer sounded and their work was collected for testing.

Everyone sat around waiting, it was a shame the potions competitions were closed to spectators, it would have been nice to talk to their friends while they were waiting. They were in one of the potions labs though and there wasn't a whole lot of room so most of the Atala guild was waiting in the cafeteria to hear the result. It took almost twenty minutes for the judges to finish testing all the potions that had been made and then add up the scores. They announced first place as Atala and then the rest of the scores but Sam was too busy celebrating to take note of how the other guilds had done.

Potions had been the last event, the guild competition was over now and while Sam was sad to see it end she was relieved too. End of year exams were rapidly approaching and she was going to have enough to worry about. On the other hand she'd be doing this all over again next year and she wasn't entirely sure she considered that a good thing.

* * *

The inter-guild competition was over, at least until next year. All first, second and third place teams had been given medals to commemorate their wins and add to their resume later in life. Cameron had put his away in a box so they'd be safe, he'd take them home when he left for the summer holidays. In the meantime he needed to concentrate on exams because they were less than a month away now and with his attention having been on the competition he was nowhere near ready.

"So Saturday afternoon we'll head to the cafe in town, we can take our books and study for a few hours," Kate stated and there were nods of agreement all around. Cameron planned to use almost every free minute he had had to study, if he wasn't in lessons, sleeping or eating then he'd have his nose in a book.

"Alright so before we all go study crazy and forget that anything exists beyond books and pens, how about we all go out for dinner tonight?" Vala suggested as she continued to doodle on the paper in front of her.

"We can celebrate doing so well in the competition and the fact that it's over," Laura agreed. "Who knows when we'll all get a chance to go out again?"

"I'm in," Sam stated.

"As am I," Teal'c told them. Everyone agreed to go out but it would only give them half an hour to get ready if they wanted to leave in time to actually have dinner and get back before curfew. The girls all left immediately to get ready and the boys followed their example at a much more leisurely pace.

Cameron couldn't believe how close they were to the end of their first year. Two months from now he'd be packing up most of his belongings and heading home for the summer. It didn't seem like that long ago he'd been arriving for his first day and now he was preparing for the end of year exams. He followed most of the guys to the junior boys dorms, he and Daniel split off from the others to head to their room. He grabbed his leather jacket and waited for Daniel to throw on a clean shirt and grab his own jacket.

"It's nice when getting ready to go out is so simple," Cameron stated as they left the room again.

"Yeah, how long do you reckon the girls are going to take?" Daniel questioned.

"Longer than half an hour."

TBC


	26. Chapter 26

**Belanna30 – **Good things do come to those who wait or in this case have the patience of saints lol. It's so easy to write cute Ronon and Teyla which is odd considering Ronon is hard to write as cute lol. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Steph7085 – **Thanks for the review, hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Dr Rosemary Weir – **There's a lot of romance on the way, John and Elizabeth will be getting their moment in the chapters to come and so will a couple of others. Thanks for the review.

**Jammeke – **They should have done a lot of things on the show lol but I won't get into that. I'm glad you liked the John and Elizabeth bit. I know, it's hard to see them losing but I had to pick and choose the events they'd win, I could have them winning them all. I hope you enjoy this chapter, thanks for the review.

**Bunnylass – **Not quick and easy to write at all but I think the end result was worth it lol. I'm glad you enjoyed the competition but I have to say, I think I'm as glad as they are that it's over. Your reviews always make me smile lol. Thanks and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

* * *

Chapter 26

Elizabeth reached across the floor to get the History book she'd checked out of the library that morning. John nudged the book into her reach as he continued to read through the one in his hand, the text book they'd been given in class. There were only a few weeks left before the end of year exams and Elizabeth intended to use every available minute to study. The whole school was gearing up for exams now that the excitement of the inter-guild competition was over with. Even John had buckled down to study once he realised just how little time was actually left.

"So let me get this straight," John began with a frown. "The Dreylan Governor thought that the Terrana Governor had kidnapped and killed his wife but his wife was actually having an affair with the Terrana Governor and had taken a little vacation there without informing her husband. The Dreylans found evidence that the Terranans had actually kidnapped her so they sent an assassin to kill the Terrana Governor's illegitimate son who happened to be his wife's son as well. The attack failed and the Terrana governor decided to kidnap the wife and ordered her death, killing her in a public execution that led to all out war between the countries."

Elizabeth tried to follow his summary and after a minute to process it she nodded her head. "Yeah, that sounds right."

"Why not just let the wife explain that she was there voluntarily?" John questioned.

"They did, she refused to risk her marriage," Elizabeth replied and John frowned again.

"So she lost her life instead... this seems like something out of some over dramatic novel," John stated and Elizabeth nodded her head again.

"It does but it also happens to be true," Elizabeth told him. "The two counties were at war for eleven years. When the illegitimate son was fifteen his father died and he was the only heir to governors seat. The position was passed to a keeper until the boy was old enough; in the meantime the kid had a heritage spell performed which revealed who his mother was. Since the Dreylan Governor had never had children it meant that the boy was also the only heir to the Dreylan Governor's seat as well. There was public outcry when the Governor tried to continue the war, the kid was considered part of Dreylan's governing family and they didn't want their own governor at war with him. He had no choice to put to call a cease fire and work out a peace agreement."

"So he was the governor of two countries?" John asked trying to skip forward in his text book.

"No, the Dreylan governor quickly married a young woman and managed to produce another heir. Since she was the child of both Governor and Governess and born in Dreylan she was considered the primary heir and she took the position after both her parents died," Elizabeth explained and John put the book down.

"Now I just have to remember all of this and learn all the names," he stated with a resigned sigh and Elizabeth patted him on the shoulder.

"You'll get it," she said as she picked up the pile of flash cards that were next to her.

"Not these again, I've gotten about four of them right so far," he moaned and Elizabeth smiled.

"And that's exactly why we need to do them again, the answers will start sticking in your head, trust me," she told him and John sighed.

"I almost wish I didn't."

* * *

"Jeremy is so far up his own ass that I doubt he knows what he's talking about half the time, he just likes to think he does," Adrian said as Jack walked out of the community centre with him. Out of all the people Jack had met at the support group he liked Adrian the best. He had a similar story, he'd been spiked at a club once and a couple of months later had fallen on hard times and turned to the drugs. He was a genuinely nice guy, quiet for the most part and working really hard to kick the habit.

"He can't be all bad," Jack pointed out. "He joined the group for the same reason as the rest of us."

"I suppose... but he's still an ass," Adrian told him and Jack smiled.

"I'm not disagreeing," he replied. "I guess I'll see you next week."

"Sure will bye," Adrian shouted as he left. Jack turned around to head to the pub where he was supposed to be meeting John, Cameron, Elizabeth and Teyla. He was out of his meeting early and the four of them had gone to the theatre just for something to do so he knew they were going to be late. He'd just have to order himself an orange juice and wait until they got there. It would probably be a long while but he had flash cards in his pocket to keep him busy while he waited. He'd barely taken two steps when he saw Sam sitting on a wall nearby and with a raised eyebrow he walked over to her.

"What are you doing here?" he questioned.

"I had nothing to do so I thought I'd come and meet you, thought maybe we could grab dinner," she told him and he nodded.

"Sounds good," he said offering her his hand to help her down from the wall. She accepted and jumped down picking up her purse from the wall. "Have anywhere in mind?"

"There's a place down the street, I passed it on the way here," she stated and Jack gestured for her to lead the way.

"Hold on a second," he began as they were walking. "Did you walk here by yourself?"

"Yeah."

"Through the forest, alone?" he continued and Sam nodded. "Are you insane? That place isn't exactly safe, even during the day. Even the school advises against students walking through it alone, it's one of the reasons they have a curfew."

"Relax Jack, I'm fine" she replied. "I can take care of myself."

"Of that I have no doubt but even Ronon and Teal'c shouldn't go through the forest alone, no one should, especially..." he trailed off knowing he would probably get his ass kicked if he finished that sentence.

"Girls?" she finished for him.

"Yes, girls, like it or not it's a statistical fact that most guys are tougher than girls, even very tough girls that can handle themselves well," Jack told her pleased with his recovery and Sam shook her head.

"Nice save," she complemented and Jack shrugged inwardly still pleased with himself. "So how are the meetings going?"

"Ah, the real reason you came, checking up on me?" he questioned humorously.

"No," she replied. "I trust you to stick to this now; I was just showing an interest."

"I think you've done more than show an interest, you and Teyla have done a hell of a lot for me. I don't think I'll ever be able to thank you enough" he told her more openly than he usually would but she deserved to know.

Sam looked at the ground for a second. "Just stay clean and that'll be all the thanks we need."

"That I can do," he said "And to answer your question the meetings are going fine though hopefully I won't need them much longer."

"Don't stop before you're ready."

"I don't plan to. This the place you were talking about?" Jack questioned as they approached a small cafe.

"This is the one," Sam replied and Jack held the door open for her as they walked in and found a table near the window.

"Just so you know," Sam said as she picked up the menu to read through it. "It's Daniel's birthday in a couple of days."

"What?" Jack exclaimed a little loudly. "Why didn't he say anything?"

"He never does, he doesn't like a fuss."

"But it's his birthday," Jack stated. "After we finish here we're meeting the others and going shopping for birthday presents and as soon as we get back to school I'm telling everyone."

"I thought you might say something like that," Sam said with a smile.

"Yeah well, just wait until I tell Vala. She'll use any excuse for a good party and she's been deprived for a while," he continued to plan how he was going to make as much fuss as possible.

* * *

It was amazing that it was almost the end of their potions lesson and Jack hadn't thought about sleep once. It might have had something to do with the exams that were looming ever closer. Professor Trel had put together a schedule of what they needed to go over in the next few weeks and Jack had been so busy making notes that falling asleep hadn't had the chance to cross his mind.

"What's the last ingredient?" Jack asked Teyla, she tapped her pen on her paper to indicate the answer and he copied it into his own notes.

"I suppose we can say goodbye to using our free periods for absolutely nothing," Teyla stated with a sigh as she continued to make notes.

"Yeah, John and Elizabeth are probably in the library surrounded by text books," Jack replied.

"Probably, if ever you can't find Elizabeth check the library... and if you're looking for John just find Elizabeth," Teyla said and Jack smiled to himself.

"Now, now Teyla," he began. "We've talked about this; let them figure it out in their own time."

"I'm sorry but I don't think I can wait until I'm old and grey," she shot back and he laughed which earned him a stern look from Trel. The professor was at his desk surrounded by students asking him questions but he still managed to keep the class as bored as he possibly could. Jack started flicking through the pages of his text book to find the instructions and warnings for the last ingredient.

"You know Elizabeth as well as I do," Jack said. "If you push her on this there's a good chance she'll just recede into that shell she started out in."

"Or maybe she'd surprise you," Teyla countered and Jack shook his head as the students at Trel's desk headed back to their own seats.

"Alright class, I think now is a good time for a quick test," Trel said as he stood up. Jaws dropped and eyes widened across the room. The professor was a dull man and the first time he shows any trace of spontaneity he's dropping a test on their heads? That just seemed completely unfair. "Please put away your text books and notes."

Jack did as he was instructed packing away his things leaving just his pen and paper on the desk. He quickly scribbled his name in the top corner and once the class was ready and quiet Trel began asking questions leaving them only a few seconds to remember and write down the answer in between. When the test was over and Jack was fairly sure he'd failed miserably Trel dismissed them and Jack handed in his paper on the way out.

"That could have gone better."

* * *

Kate flipped the small card over and wrote down the answer to the question she'd already written on the other side. She added it to the pile that was building up beside her on the table and picked up the next blank card. Her flash cards were extremely helpful, she already had a few hundred for various subjects and they'd already proven their worth, not only was she learning just by writing them but they helped to keep the answers in her head. It was a method she'd used before and one that she knew worked for her.

The waitress came over to the table with part of their drinks order. This cafe had proven to be a great place to study, they'd come here several times over the weeks, it was almost a guarantee that at least a few members of their group were here at all times during the week. They all spent most of the weekend here; the whole group was spread out across two tables in the corner. They'd picked the ones with comfy couches instead of not so comfy chairs since they were going to be there a while. They'd already been there all morning and there was talk of ordering lunch so it was a safe bet they'd be there well into the afternoon.

Elizabeth and Teyla were sat opposite Kate making their own flash cards while Carson, Janet and Daniel were doing the same thing on the other table. Ronon and Rodney were making notes, Jack, Laura and Marcus were reading while everyone else was quizzing each other.

"How many years ago was the battle of Grey's point?" Ronon asked as he paused in is writing and started flicking through the text book to find the answer.

"53 years," Daniel stated without looking up from the flash card he was working on.

"You sure?" Ronon questioned.

"History geek, remember," Daniel replied and was answered with a conceding head nod from Ronon. The group continued to study until Rodney announced that he was too hungry to concentrate despite the massive heap of jell-o he'd had half an hour ago. They decided they might as well order so Cameron and Marcus wrote down the food order and headed over to the counter.

"Has anyone seen my Mythology text book?" Laura asked as she looked around her. "I know I brought it with me."

"Is that it on the floor?" Radek questioned pointing with his pen.

"Yes it is, how the hell did it get down there?" she questioned as she scooped the book up from the floor.

"You were clumsy?" Rodney suggested and Laura opened her mouth to say something back so Kate beat her to it. Once these two got started it wasn't quite so easy to stop them.

"Rodney, either be nice or shut up," she ordered and Rodney turned to her.

"Oh so you're on her side?" Rodney questioned and Kate had to use a great amount of restraint not to roll her eyes at him.

"No, I'm on peace's side, as in the side that means I don't have to listen to you bickering with someone or complaining about spirits knows what," Kate responded and after several seconds of silence Rodney looked like he was about to say something when Cameron and Marcus got back to the table.

"Food should be twenty minutes to half an hour," they announced which shifted Rodney's focus.

"Half an hour?" he questioned. "I could have wasted away by then."

"Not much danger of that," Laura muttered to herself as she continued to read but Rodney heard her.

"Did you just call me fat?" Rodney half shouted in outrage.

"No but you eat enough food that half an hour isn't going to kill you. Besides you ate that jell-o mountain a little while ago," Laura replied.

"That is such an exaggeration but I'd expect that coming from someone with an IQ lower than a cockroach," Rodney retorted. Laura put her pen down and looked up at him angrily; these two could wind each other up better than anyone Kate had ever seen.

"This coming from the guy who's afraid of lemons, they won't kill you by being near one," she informed him and then reached into her bag pulling one out. "However I can't say the same for when I ram this down your throat."

Laura moved to grab Rodney who yelped and ran off; she tried to chase him just to be stopped by Carson and Marcus. Carson took the lemon off her while Jack went to drag Rodney back to the table since he'd gone to hide in the men's room.

"If he thinks I won't go in there to kill him then he can think again," Laura stated turning to Carson. "And I have more in my bag."

"Just sit down Laura, you're both as bad as each other," Marcus said and Lara turned her glare on him but complied anyway as Jack shoved Rodney out of the toilets.

"Let's just get back to studying," Teyla suggested.

TBC


	27. Chapter 27

**Dr Rosemary Weir – **Not too long to wait for the romance at all now, thought I have to say I'm nervous about writing it now with all the build up there's been to it lol. Thanks for the review.

**Bunnylass – **Thank you, I love writing the team, they're all fun to write and hilarity usually ensues when they're all together lol. I'm glad you enjoy the story and anything that makes school work not seem boring is a good thing, I'm glad I achieved that. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Kuro – **I'm glad you enjoyed the guild competition it was harder to write than I thought it would be. The sparky moments have been fun to write as well as the team moments. Thanks for the review.

**Belanna30 – **Thank you for your continued patience, here's the next chapter and I hope you enjoy it. Thanks for the review.

**Jammeke – **I feel like I'm going to be old and grey when I get to the end of this story lol. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Steph – **You really want Rodney and Kate in this story don't you lol. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

* * *

Chapter 27

John was surprisingly nervous about the exam. Back in high school he'd never been nervous maybe because he hadn't been all that bothered. The future had seemed so far away and working for it back then hadn't felt like it needed to be a priority. Now though, it mattered, he'd worked hard to study for these exams and he wanted to do well. He was standing in the queue outside the exam building along with the others waiting to be let in. They'd checked the seating plan that had been posted all around the outside of the building as well as in the cafeteria. Exams had been going on all week but this was the first of the first year exams.

The doors to the exam building opened and the queue started moving forward. Everyone wished each other luck before they entered the large hall and were told to be quiet from that point on by one of the exam supervisors. Anyone caught speaking or signalling to each other would be disqualified from the exam and kicked out of the hall. Even just a smile or a wave would be deemed communication and resulted in disqualification. Around the large hall other students were being let in through other entrances, more supervisors warning them to be quiet.

John located his seat, row S, seat 19, and sat down placing his pen, pencil and maths equipment on the small desk next to the face down paper that was already there. He risked a look around the hall, Jack wasn't far away over on row O. Elizabeth was on row W and Teyla was all the way at the other side of the hall. Everyone else was spread out according to their last name. The examiner that had been sent by the exam board to oversee the exams stood at the podium at the front of the hall waiting for everyone to be seated.

"We are now under exam conditions." he announced once the sound of shuffling and the rattling of chairs had all but stopped. "There is to be no talking, gesturing or communication of any kind from this point until you leave the hall. Please keep your eyes on the paper or directly in front of you. Anyone caught breaking these rules will be disqualified from this exam and ejected from the hall immediately. The clocks have been placed at the front of the hall to allow you to monitor your time. Now please turn over your papers and read through your details if any are incorrect please raise your hand and a supervisor will help you."

The sound of shuffling papers filled the hall as John turned his own paper over. His name and student number were written on the front along with the school's centre number. Everything looked correct to him but he did see a couple of hands go up. Everyone remained silent until all the details had been sorted.

"You have two hours, you may begin," the examiner stated and once again the hall was filled with the sound of shuffling papers. Opening the paper John read through the first question finding it to be easy, just matching definitions to words. He didn't expect the rest of the paper to be the same; the harder questions were always at the back.

He risked a glance over to Elizabeth though he had no idea why. She had her head down and was writing away. He shook his head and forced his mind back onto the exam, it would wonder all over the place if he let it. The clock told him it was already several minutes into the exam, not much when you considered that the exam was two hours long but it wouldn't be that long if the time wasn't needed.

The next question was almost as easy as the first and it bolstered his confidence that he got a good part of the way through the exam before he started to struggle. It didn't matter as long as he wrote something for every question; he had more chance of getting marks for it if he put down a load of nonsense than nothing at all.

* * *

"Could you two please stop, I'm trying to study," Teyla requested for what felt like the millionth time though this time she couldn't quite keep her annoyance out of her voice. Teal'c and Ronon had accompanied her down to the river to study and they'd done well for the first half an hour. Since then the amount of studying had decreased rapidly in favour of goofing off. It seemed after practicing for the guild competition and studying none stop for the last couple of months it was starting to wear thin.

"Sorry," they both muttered at the same time and she thought it might actually stick this time though she wasn't holding her breath.

"I must go anyway," Teal'c stated. "I am meeting Cameron, Vala and Marcus shortly."

"Alright, see you," Ronon said and Teyla gave him a wave as she continued to study. She heard his footsteps fade out as he left and then heard Ronon shuffling about, picking up his book to continue the studying he'd abandoned some time ago. "How can you study none stop for so long, my mind starts to wonder."

"I noticed," Teyla replied only slightly bitter.

Ronon moved to sit next to her and nudged her arm with his elbow. Despite being determined to stay mad at him she looked up with a smile and he grinned triumphantly before dropping a kiss on her head.

"So, I'm forgiven then?" he questioned.

"This time," she replied as she returned her attention to her studying. Ronon did the same but didn't move from next to her and she leaned her head on his shoulder as she continued to read. She didn't need to look up to know he was smirking but she decided to let him get away with that this time too. When she'd asked him out at the beginning of the year she'd done it just to prove a point to Elizabeth. She hadn't expected it to turn into this, she hadn't expected to actually fall for him but here they were and she would never go back and change it.

"What are we studying now," Ronon questioned the smirk obviously gone now.

"The History exam is tomorrow so I'm studying for that, I'm on the Oliver Trion crime spree," she told him as she gestured to the page number in her text book so that he could find it in his own. "How about we go find the others in half an hour?" she questioned knowing he wouldn't be able to concentrate for longer than that at this point but since he was trying to sit here and study with her she should at least compromise.

"Sounds good."

* * *

Elizabeth finished washing the last of her clothes and allowed the soapy and now dirty water to drain out before she hung the last thing on the indoor washing line. It was near the vent so the cool air was blowing through and allowing the clothes to dry. The Raildon halls laundry room was huge, two lines of wash bowls laid out for students and several washing lines across two walls for the clothes to dry. Teyla was hanging her own washing on the same line as Elizabeth though she still had a fair bit left to do. This was the only real disadvantage to living in the normal dorms as opposed to the towers; the students here had to do their own laundry. Elizabeth really didn't mind, she preferred to do things herself and it provided her with a chance to think.

There were voices coming from outside the door and a moment later, Janet and Laura walked in with their own basket's full of clothes. Elizabeth activated the fans so that her clothes would dry quicker and then took a seat on the nearby bench. She could just leave her clothes here and come back for them in an hour when they would most likely be dry but she couldn't be sure all of her things would be here when she got back. It was unusual for things to be stolen here but it wasn't unheard of and she would only blame herself if she left it here and it was taken.

"So we just have a couple of weeks of exams left and then the next big thing is parent's weekend," Teyla stated as she hung more of her clothes on the line.

"I'm not worried," Janet replied. "I kinda miss my parents and I've done pretty well in school so it might actually be nice to see them."

"Yeah, I miss my dad too" Teyla stated thoughtfully. "This is the longest I've ever been away from him."

"That's right, you two didn't go home for Christmas, you must be looking forward to seeing your families more than the rest of us," Laura stated and Teyla nodded her head as she continued to wash her clothes. Elizabeth kept quiet on the bench trying to keep out of the conversation and hoping her lack of participation would go unnoticed. The few glances her way told her it hadn't but thankfully no one pushed her on the subject.

"Don't forget, the end of year party is that week too," Janet said. "They're holding it in the assembly hall."

"Where are the fifth years having theirs?" Laura questioned.

"In the Exam building, it'll be cleared out and decorated for the party; they always hold it there," Janet replied.

"At least we have something to look forward to once the exams are over with," Laura said. "That and the fact that we'll only be in school for a couple of weeks doing prep work for next year, no homework, no studying, just nice, easy lessons until the summer holidays."

"It'll be a welcome change from the last few months," Teyla stated. "They've been nothing if not chaotic."

"Well it's almost over girls," Janet said.

* * *

She'd finished the exam with time to spare and now she was sat watching the seconds tick by on the clock at an agonisingly slow pace. Kate resisted the urge to tap her knuckles on the desk for fear it would be considered communication and end with her being disqualified. Not only did she not want to lose her mark on the exams and potentially cost herself a future career but she didn't want the last half an hour of clock watching to be for nothing. As it was these were minutes of her life she could never get back, if she lost her mark in the exam they'd also be completely wasted minutes she could never get back. Why couldn't they just let you out of the exam when you were finished?

She looked at her paper and double checked the details on the front to be sure they were all correct. That was definitely her name, all spelt correctly. Her student number was right too and the centre number was the same one that had been written on every other paper she'd done so far. This was indeed the First Year Mythology exam and that was the correct date and time written near the bottom of the front page. She looked back up at the clock...

Four minutes.

That was all? She'd only managed to kill four more minutes, this was ridiculous. What did they expect her to do with all this time? She'd already checked through her answers twice to be sure she was happy with them all and she couldn't be any more ecstatic with them if she tried. It didn't hurt to look again though there was no way she as going through the whole paper again. She flipped to the back, to the particularly long essay she'd had to write for the final question and read through it once more. There were no mistakes, at least none she could find and she was happy with the content too. She looked up at the clock again... five minutes.

She wondered if bashing her head on the table repeatedly would be considered communication.

The clock was tormenting her, it had to be, there was no way time was actually moving that slowly. She watched the hands move, they were going at the right speed so maybe it was just when she looked away that they decided to slow down. She picked up her pen and started fiddling with it, rolling it between her fingers. It wasn't until she considered doodling on her exam paper that she forced herself to put it down, she wasn't sure how many marks a random drawing of an angry face would get her.

She had her spell casting exam that afternoon so she started mentally studying for that. She went through the different basic spells they'd learned that year as well the theory she'd had to learn to go along with them. The clock still ticked by at its annoyingly slow pace and she was getting to the point now where she wanted to stand up and throw her chair at the aggravating thing.

"The exam is now over, please put your pens down immediately and close your papers. The supervisors will come around and collect the papers but please remember you are still under exam conditions until you leave this hall," the examiner announced and Kate breathed a sigh of relief. She never thought she'd be so happy to hear that man's flat, annoying voice. A supervisor picked up her paper moving on without a word to collect the rest of her rows. Once all the papers had been collected they were dismissed a few rows at a time from either side of the hall to avoid anyone getting trampled in the student's desperate bid to get out of this room. Kate cursed that her surname started with a letter over a quarter of the way through the alphabet, even those in the Z row were getting out before her.

When they finally got to row H, Kate already had her pen and equipment in her hands and was out of the chair even before the examiner had finished calling for her row. She all but sprinted for the exit and made her way to the cafeteria without as much as a backward glance at the exam building. She would unfortunately be seeing it again later and she'd had more than enough it for now.

In the cafeteria a lot of the group had already gathered together. Radek would have been one of the first out, Carson right behind him, Sam and Laura right after that and Elizabeth, Teyla and Janet shortly after. John was just arriving at the table, taking a seat next to Elizabeth and looking as relived to be out of the hall as Kate was.

"Hey," she greeted them and sat down.

"Hey," Janet greeted. "We were just thinking of getting dinner and going down to the river to eat. It's a nice day and we're all going to be stuck inside for enough of it."

"Besides, it's as good a place as any for last minute studying. Out of a Mythology exam and more or less straight into a Spell Casting one, anyone who thinks that this school might actually be trying to kill us raises your hand," Laura said and all hands went up around the table.

"What are we voting on?" Jack questioned as he and Daniel arrived,

"Whether the school is trying to kill us," Sam told him.

"I vote yes then," Jack replied.

"We're just waiting on Teal'c, Vala, Cameron and Rodney now then," Carson said as he looked over at the doors where first year students were still pouring in. "Poor guys all have surnames beginning with M, right in the middle of the alphabet."

"Which makes them last out," Teyla finished. "We might as well order food while we wait."

* * *

Elizabeth and Teyla walked passed the exam building quietly. Exams were still going on and if she remembered correctly the seniors were in an exam at the moment. Teyla stopped suddenly and Elizabeth turned back to her giving her an expectant look.

"Why didn't you tell me I hadn't picked up my bag?" she questioned and Elizabeth laughed.

"I honestly didn't notice," she told her and Teyla sighed.

"Alright, I'll go back and get it," she said turning around to head back to the dorms. "You go find us a spot down by the river."

Elizabeth didn't get the chance to respond before Teyla ran off to the dorms so instead she just followed instructions. She passed through the small forest that separated the main part of the school from the river and looked around for somewhere to sit. There were a lot of people around already; this had become a poplar spot over the last couple of weeks with the weather being so nice and everyone needing to study for exams. She'd been down here herself several times with various other people.

She saw John sitting under one of the trees, leaning back against it with a potions text book in his hands. She looked at him curiously as she walked over and when he sensed someone watching him he looked up and smiled.

"Hey you," he said as she sat down next to him and put her back down on the grass.

"I wasn't expecting to find you down here," she told him and he shrugged.

"Rodney, Radek and Sam were bickering over everything they were studying, Jack was too busy trying to pretend he understood what they were talking about to be bothered but I'd had more than enough. I came down here to get away from them," he explained and Elizabeth nodded her head in understanding. Once the three of them got going, Rodney, Sam and Radek could drive people crazy, even Teyla with all her patience sometimes threatened to bash all their heads together.

"Fair enough," she said as she looked over his shoulder to see what he was studying.

"I can't believe the practical exam is tomorrow, I'm not sure I did all that well on the theory exam the other day," he told her.

"I'm sure you'll do fine," she stated and John raised his eyebrow at her.

"Let's face it Lizabeth, potions is not my strongest subject," he said.

"That doesn't mean you can't do it," she told him and he shook his head as he returned his attention to his book. Elizabeth took her own out of her bag and flipped through it to the same page John was working on, they might as well study together and Teyla could join in when she got there.

"So everyone seems pretty excited about the end of year party," John stated as he continued to read through his book and Elizabeth looked up from hers.

"Well it's just a few weeks away now, no surprise that Ronon asked Teyla to go with him," she replied with a smile, remembering Teyla running into their room all excited because he'd asked her when in truth there'd never been any doubt he would.

"What about you?" he questioned and Elizabeth decided to divert her attention to her book and keep it there. "You got your eyes on anyone?"

She really didn't want to answer that question. "Not really."

John was staring at her, she could feel his eyes on her and she silently begged him to go back to studying. Her eyes kept scanning the book in her hands but she wasn't able to actually take in any of the words until John finally returned to his book. Teyla arrived a moment later and Elizabeth let out a deep breath.

TBC


	28. Chapter 28

**Steph – **Yes that was much wordier than usual lol. Of course I couldn't make it that easy you know I have a very specific plan for this entire series, you even know the plan. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Jammeke – **Stargate really does have an awesome group of characters, it's just a shame most of them never got the attention they deserved. Thanks for the review, I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter and I hope you enjoy this one too.

**Belanna30** – You'll be finding out a little bit of what's going on with Elizabeth's father very soon. I'm really dragging this sparky thing out aren't I lol, almost done with that though. I hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks for the review.

**Dr Rosemary Weir – **Romance coming very soon, thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Kuro – **Kate's part was kind of written from my own experience exams always drove me crazy. You'll know about Elizabeth and her father very, very soon, I think I was a little mean giving everyone all that hope at the end there and then taking it away again lol. I hope you enjoy this chapter though and thanks for the review.

**Bunnylass – **Thanks for the review. The exams were kind of a throw back to GCSE's and A levels for me lol, Kate's art was entirely my own experience of still being stuck in the exam hall for ages after I finished the exam. I' really glad you enjoyed the chapter and again, thanks for your review. I hope you enjoy this chapter too.

* * *

Chapter 28

Laura finished running the brush through her hair and decided just to leave it down. Janet was still doing her make up so it would be another few minutes before she was ready. Laura grabbed her leather jacket and slipped it on sitting on the edge of her bed to wait for her room mate. They were supposed to be meeting the others in the cafeteria now but she supposed Teyla and Vala would probably be at least a little bit late so she wasn't worried. The guys would entertain themselves until the girls were ready, they always did.

The end of year exams were finally over and the group now had nothing to worry about except the light prep work they'd be doing for the next few weeks. After that it would be the summer holidays and they'd all be going home to their families until the start of the next school year. It was hard to believe their first year was almost over it, it didn't seem like that long.

"Alright, I'm good to go," Janet said as she put on her own jacket and tucked her small purse into the pocket. The two of them left and headed for the cafeteria, when they arrived the guys were all there as expected. Kate was there too, she was sat talking to Rodney and Radek who for once weren't bickering.

"Hey," Carson greeted as he left the football game that was going on. It was a good thing the cafeteria was closed otherwise the lunch ladies would have had something to say.

"Teyla, your hair looks fine, now would you please stop going on about it," Elizabeth was saying as she and Teyla showed up. Teyla was messing with her hair and looking slightly sulky as they walked over to the rest of the group. The football game came to a close since they were now just waiting on Vala and Sam. Ronon walked over to Teyla and took her hands down from her hair with a half amused smirk.

"You look fine," he told her and she narrowed her eyes at him.

"My hair is all frizzy," she complained still sulking.

"You keep messing with it and you're going to have greasy hair instead," Elizabeth told her as she moved to sit on the table John was currently sat at. Teyla childishly stuck her tongue out at Elizabeth who just rolled her eyes and turned to talk to John.

"I'm here," Vala announced only to get elbowed by Sam. "I mean we're here."

"Let's get going before a fight starts breaking out" Jack said. "And for once it won't be the guys involved."

They all moved out of the cafeteria and headed toward the forest exit of the school. They went through the gates and followed the path toward town. Laura could admit this forest was pretty creepy even during the day and she knew from experience how much creepier it was going to be when they came back after dark. Then of course, once they were through the forest they had to sneak back into school grounds and to their dorms without getting caught since it would obviously be well after curfew when they made it back.

There were already a lot of students in town, a lot of them getting something to eat before they hit the clubs. Their group was no different; they went into a restaurant and after fifteen minutes were seated. It was always hard for them to get tables with there being so many of them.

They ordered dinner and the food took longer than usual to get to them, again because they were such a big group. They were all eager to get to the clubs as soon as they were open otherwise they were going to end up queuing to get in. There were so many students with plans to celebrate the end of exams that the clubs would likely be overfilled pretty quick. Their only real concern tonight was Jack, this was the first time he'd been to clubs since his battle with Allinyas and the drug was still in circulation especially on the night club scene.

Laura was sure he'd be okay, if the temptation came up then they'd have to deal with it but there was a good chance that the drug wouldn't even cross paths with them so there was no sense worrying about it. Jack couldn't spend the rest of his life hiding from every situation where he might encounter drugs, especially if he wanted a career in the protectorates guild.

They were let into the club straight away and Laura immediately ran off to the dance floor dragging Janet along with her. Unfortunately for Sam, Janet had linked arms with her so the blonde got dragged off as well. This was the first chance that they'd all had to come out and really enjoy themselves in a long time and Laura fully intended to take advantage of it. There was no way she was letting any drugs ruin this night out like they had her last one.

* * *

Jack had been doing well right up until he'd caught sight of what looked like a drugs deal going down in the corner of the club. His eyes had been following the possible dealer around for the last few minutes. The temptation was there, it was stronger than he would have expected. He'd thought that faced with this situation he could easily turn away from the drugs but now that he was staring at a potential source it wasn't quite as easy.

He tore his eyes away from the twenty something, dark haired man and looked over at his friends. Half of them were on the dance floor oblivious to his current predicament and the others were at the bar getting drinks, equally oblivious. He needed to ignore that man as much for them as himself, they'd all gone above and beyond to help him and it would be a hell of a way to repay them to go and take the drugs again.

He felt a tap on his shoulder and turned to see Sam standing there with a knowing look on her face. She smiled and glanced over at where Jack had been looking and surprisingly she didn't say anything, she just took his hand and dragged him over to the dance floor. After a few minutes he forgot about the drug dealer and when he did finally remember he turned to look for him. He couldn't see him though and it was possible, even likely, that he'd left the club and wouldn't be coming back that night.

It was a great relief to know that he'd come face to face with his problem for the first time since he'd quit and he'd beaten it. The temptation wasn't going to go away anytime soon maybe it never would but he knew he could ignore it. He had too many reasons to stay clean and none to go back to the drugs.

"See," Sam said quietly. "I told you you'd be fine."

She had told him that, just before they'd all gone their separate ways to get ready. He'd been staring of into space worrying about exactly this situation and somehow she'd known. It was strange how well she seemed to know him but then she'd been with him through the worst few months of his life so maybe it wasn't all that odd.

* * *

John tucked the letter from his parents into his bag with a smile. It wasn't often letters from his parents made him smile, they were usually filled with politics and the mundane goings on in the Governor's house. The occasional one that contained the antics of his uncle was always good for a laugh though. His father's brother had never really matured, even in his late forties he was still the prank pulling, goof off teenager that he'd always been. All of Caldera should be glad he wasn't the oldest since his grandfather had died when the brothers were still young he would have had no chance to defer the governor's throne to the other brother. It was lucky really that his father had been the oldest, as strict and unfeeling as he could sometimes be, he made a great governor.

"What are you smiling at?" Elizabeth questioned as she bookmarked her book and put it down on the grass.

"My parents aren't coming to parent's week," he stated with a grin.

"Why are you so happy about that?" she questioned. "It's not like the teacher's would have had anything bad to say about you."

John shrugged. "Natural instinct."

"I'm sure it is," Elizabeth replied rolling her eyes.

"Besides," John began. "I want to enjoy these last few weeks of parent free life before I have to go and spend the entire summer with them."

"You don't want to go home?" she questioned, there was something in the way she asked the question that made him wonder if she did.

"You haven't met my parents," he told her. "I love them but they're all about politics and duty. Their priority is always the country and what they feel is best for it. They're great governors but sometimes they're a little lacking in the parenting department. What about you, are you looking forward to going home, I mean you haven't been back all year?"

"Yeah," Elizabeth replied after a moment.

"You don't sound very convinced," John stated and Elizabeth shrugged. She never did talk about her family, her home or anything from before she came to magic school and the whole group had chosen not to pry but he was curious now. Obviously she could tell he wanted further explanation and she must have surprised herself as much as him when she gave it to him.

"My mother died when I was younger," she told him.

"I'm sorry," he said feeling guilty now.

"You didn't know," Elizabeth shrugged again.

"What was she like?" he questioned and she smiled this time.

"She was great, everybody loved her. She had all these ideas about making the world a better place, all the things she could do to help people. She was quiet though, all these ideas and she only ever voiced half of them. I think it frustrated her in the end, how much she still wanted to do," Elizabeth explained losing her smile at the end. "She got sick and I don't think she was very happy at the end, I was young though so I could be wrong."

"What about your father?" John questioned. "You still have him right?"

Elizabeth bit her lip and looked down. "Yeah, I do. He's a governor and that's the most important thing to him."

John decided to change the subject. "So, I heard Professor Niya is having an affair with Professor Penrose and that's why she left the school last week."

Elizabeth smiled and obviously recognised his attempt to lighten the mood. "You shouldn't believe everything you hear. Niya left to go to a series of lectures in Alteran city, she told us about it in class a couple of weeks back and Penrose only got married a year ago. His desk is covered in pictures of his wife and their kid, that's why he lives off campus, so he can stay with them in town."

"Well, excuse me, Miss 'Know it all', I am clearly not as observant as you," John laughed and Elizabeth shook her head at him.

* * *

Cameron jotted down the occasional note, since all their lessons were just light prep work for next year he'd decided it was okay to take it a little easier in lessons. His notes weren't very detailed but they were enough for him to study over the summer, on the rare occasion that he actually sat down to study. He had far more interesting things to do with his summer than sit and study for school when he'd already spent his entire year studying.

"Alright students," Professor Penrose began. "Pack up your things."

The class did as instructed, unsure why the Professor would have them pack up fifteen minutes before the end of the lesson. He uttered some words and gestured for the tables to move and instantly they all manoeuvred around the students to the sides of the room with the chairs following after them.

"Let's do some spell practice," Penrose said. "The main spells you'll be trying to master next year are the morphology spells. These are the spells that allow you to change both people and objects into other things. Now obviously we don't teach students to turn people into water fountains, at least not until your senior years and even then only certain students learn it. However you will be converting objects, liquids and even certain gasses. It may sound simple enough but I assure you it's not. This is very complicated magic and it takes a lot of time to master it."

At least this sounded like it was going to be interesting, Cameron thought. Penrose brought a statue into the middle of the room, it was a small cat sitting down and with a few words and a wave of his hand he turned it into an angry looking cat that if it wasn't made of stone would probably be attacking them now.

"So who wants to try to change it back?" Penrose questioned and there was silence throughout the room. A few students were trying to hide themselves at the back in the hopes that Penrose wouldn't call them out to make a fool of themselves. "Mr Murray," he called out. "Let's have it."

Cameron was sure Teal'c had sighed and visibly slumped as he walked forward so that he was standing in front of the angry cat statue. He repeated Penrose's words and made a hand gesture at the cat which sparked but remained unchanged. Penrose called out someone else to try who failed as well before he moved onto another student. Ronon and Vala were also called up and neither of them was any more successful than the other students had been. Cameron was one of the fortunate few who hadn't been called up before they reached the end of the lesson though Penrose promised them their turn, Cameron wasn't sure he wanted his.

They all gathered their things which had followed the tables and chairs to the sides of the room before they left. The rest of their lessons were cancelled for the day, something about part of the staff being on a training course. That left them with nothing to do, some home work that would probably take ten minutes to complete and a reading assignment.

"We should find out who else is free for the rest of the day and go shopping" Vala suggested. "I know Teyla, Elizabeth, Jack and John are free but I don't know about any of the others."

"Maybe we don't want to go shopping Vala," Cameron threw out there and Vala looked at him like he'd grown another head.

"Yeah, right," she replied sarcastically and sauntered off to the cafeteria.

"I think we might be going shopping," Ronon stated with a sigh.

* * *

Sam picked up her lunch tray and waited for Jack to do the same before the two of them headed back to the table. Lunch had started twenty minutes ago but so far they were the only ones there. They knew a couple of people had gone into town for dinner but the others were just missing and since Rodney was in the latter group it was rather worrying. She put her tray down on the table and took a seat while Jack did the same.

"Maybe John and Elizabeth finally got a clue and are otherwise occupied," Sam suggested and Jack shook his head.

"Don't you start I, hear enough of that from Teyla," Jack stated.

"Yeah but don't pretend you don't think exactly the same way she does," Sam laughed and Jack narrowed his eyes at her.

"Maybe I do, but it's not my place to butt in, they'll figure it out when they're good and ready," Jack told her and Sam raised an eyebrow at him.

"Elizabeth refuses to acknowledge she has emotions relating to other people and even if she did realise there was something between her and John an army of Wraith couldn't make her admit to it. As for John, men are completely clueless," Sam explained and it apparently took Jack a moment to realise what she'd said because he was nodding his head.

"Wait, hey!" he exclaimed and Sam had to put her drink down to laugh. "I am far from clueless, thank you very much," he told her indignantly.

"You're very clueless," she told him and resisted the urge to roll her eyes when he didn't pick up her meaning. Instead he took a bite of his burger and just glared at her.

"I am not," he stated and the way he said it, with a mouth full of burger, was unbelievably childish.

"What's he sulking for?" Vala asked as she sat down along with John, Elizabeth and the half of the group had opted not to go to town for dinner.

"Where the heck have you guys been?" Jack questioned. "When Rodney didn't turn up for dinner we started to get worried. We were just discussing whether or not we should organise a search party."

Rodney would probably have tried to defend himself from the comment but he was already half way to the cafeteria counter. Everyone else sat down, more content to take their time and not in a rush to join the long cafeteria queue.

"There was a fight outside, you should have seen it. Two of the seniors got into it and they were really going at it until their friends intervened and tried to separate them. Then the teachers came along and ruined the show. The two guys were sent to the principle but they barely made it five steps before they started up again. They were just dragged off by the teachers," Ronon explained sounding amused by the whole thing.

"Sounds like we missed a show" Jack stated.

"They probably couldn't have picked a worse time either, parents week starts on Monday and of course the end of year party is on Wednesday. Not only are they going to get their parent's wrath in person, they're probably going to get banned from the party," Janet said with a shrug. "I suppose it's they're own fault though."

"Oh that reminds me, girls shopping trip on Saturday, we need to shop for the party," Vala told them and the girls were lost after that to talk of dresses, shoes and jewellery.

TBC


	29. Chapter 29

**Dr Rosemary Weir – **After having so many insane things going on over the year I think normal problems will feel like a blessing to them lol. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Steph – **Thanks for the review, I'm glad you liked the last chapter and I hope you enjoy this one too.

**Belanna30 – **You'll learn a lot more about Elizabeth in this chapter. I love writing the little cute moments like Teyla with her hair, sometimes they're more fun to write than the big moments. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Jammeke – **You'll get to find out about Elizabeth and dad in this chapter. Team moments are always great to write and I'm glad you liked the Sam and Jack part. Thanks for the review.

**Kuro – **Jack is completely clueless when it comes to Sam lol. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter, you'll get to find out more about Elizabeth.

* * *

Chapter 29

"You can not wear that top with those jeans Elizabeth," Teyla stated as though a crime had been committed and Elizabeth rolled her eyes.

"Why not?" she questioned, she was kind of getting used to this conversation now, it was apparent that Teyla did not think Elizabeth had very good fashion co-ordination.

"Because they clash," Teyla said going to Elizabeth's wardrobe and routing through it. "Here, wear this one instead."

"It's practically the same," Elizabeth pointed out even as she took the top from Teyla and changed into it.

"But it's different enough that it doesn't clash," Teyla said. There was a knock at the door and it was clear that Teyla was too busy still routing through Elizabeth's wardrobe to answer it so Elizabeth went over instead. It was probably just John and Jack; they said they'd probably drop in this morning. "How is it possible that after a year of living with me you still have so few clothes?"

"I have more clothes than any one person needs," Elizabeth replied as she opened the door laughing at her friend's expression.

"We're going shopping this week and we're hitting every store in town," Teyla stated and Elizabeth laughed and rolled her eyes as she turned to greet their visitors. She had been about to point out that they'd only just been shopping at the weekend but was stopped dead in her tracks when she saw who was standing at the door. She'd almost been able to forget.

"Hello Elizabeth," the man greeted. He looked the same as always, neatly pressed suit, blonde hair that had only retained it's colour with magic and was currently slicked back and a frown on his face.

"Hello father," she greeted and then turned her gaze to the girl standing by his side. She was the opposite of Elizabeth in every way and that included appearance. She had long blonde hair, blue eyes, short skirt and revealing top. She'd gotten most of her looks from her father while Elizabeth had turned out more like their mother. "Carlie."

"Is that all the greeting your little sister gets after a whole year?" Carlie questioned smugly.

"Are you going to invite us in?" her father asked and Elizabeth stepped back to let them pass.

"This is my room mate Teyla, Teyla this is my father, Nicolas Weir and my sister Carlie," she introduced.

"It's nice to meet you," Teyla extended her hand to Nicolas who just ignored it; instead he merely gave her a nod to acknowledge she was there. He was never impolite, just above everyone around him.

"I've got to say Elizabeth, the accommodations here are a little lower class but I suppose I'll be touring the tower later since my room will be there next year," Carlie stated doing the best she could to subtly rub the fact in her face.

"The accommodations here are fine," Teyla said obviously having taken an instant dislike to Carlie. "As long as you don't need people tending to your every whim, which you don't even get in the towers, a little self reliance is a good thing."

"You will speak to Carlie with respect, she is a governors daughter," Nicolas said in annoyance and Elizabeth wished the ground would open up and swallow her whole right that second.

Teyla merely smiled. "As am I," she told them and seemed to enjoy the surprise that crossed her family's faces. "Teyla Emmagan, governor's child of Athos."

"Then why are you down here and not in the towers?" Carlie questioned unable to fathom why someone with the privileges that came with being the child of a governor would choose not to take full advantage of it.

"Because I choose to be down here," Teyla stated and Nicolas coughed.

"I hope you have behaved yourself Elizabeth, I hope you haven't embarrassed me. I'm sure I'll speak with you later, come on Carlie," her father said and then left with Carlie following along behind him. Elizabeth didn't want to spend another second in that room, she suddenly felt very suffocated by it. She grabbed her jacket from the bed and headed for the door.

"I don't really feel like having breakfast this morning, I think I'll just go and study in the library, see you in lesson," she said and then left before Teyla could say anything. There was no sign of her father or Carlie in the corridor when she left so she hurried along glad she didn't run into them along the way. She couldn't believe her father had acted like that, Carlie too. If they'd known from the beginning that Teyla had been a governor's child they would have been a little more respectful but that had just been humiliating.

It seemed to take forever to get to the library. She picked up a book from a shelf as she passed it not caring which one as she sat down at an empty table. She dropped her head into her hands and resisted the sudden urge to scream or cry. She'd been dreading parent's week all year and now she just wanted it to be over.

* * *

Teyla dropped into a chair at the table, most of the group had yet to arrive, they were probably just dragging themselves out of bed. She sighed; her encounter with Elizabeth's family had left her annoyed. She thought that maybe now she understood why Elizabeth was the way she was and that was just from being stuck in the room with her father and sister for sixty seconds. Jack, John and Sam gave her an odd look; it was unusual for her to be this wound up this early on a morning even when Elizabeth had dragged her out of bed. She couldn't help it though; she had a feeling this week was going to be very unpleasant for Elizabeth.

"Are you going to tell us what's wrong or are we going to have to beat it out of you?" Jack questioned. It wasn't her place to tell them but at the same time if they knew what to expect they could probably make this week just a little bit easier on Elizabeth.

"I just met Elizabeth's father and sister," she stated and received three pairs of expectant eyes in response.

"What about them?" Ronon asked as he dropped into the chair next to her.

"They're horrible," she told them bluntly putting as much emphasis into it as she could manage. "You should have seen the way they spoke to her, like she was beneath them," she explained getting herself more annoyed as she spoke.

"They can't be that bad," Sam stated. "I mean they're her family."

"You would never have guessed it looking at them, it really didn't seem to a big concern to them," Teyla replied. "I only met them for a minute and fair enough that's not usually enough time to judge someone but in this case it is. Even if it wasn't, Elizabeth's reaction was all I needed to see. She was laughing with me one minute and then they arrived and the change was so fast I could have missed it."

"Where is she?" John asked in concern.

"She ran off to the library after they left before I could say anything," she told him.

"Maybe it's not as bad as you think, like you said they were only there a minute," Jack suggested hopefully but he sounded more like he was convincing himself.

"Think about it, it makes sense. The way she was when she first came here; the way she still is now. She never talks about her family; I think I've seen her write about five letter home in the entire time she's been here and received about the same. Why didn't she go home for Christmas?" Teyla said and both Sam and John were nodding their heads.

"Look, whether Elizabeth's family is horrible or not is none of our business. If Elizabeth wants to talk about is she will otherwise all we can do is show her it doesn't matter to us," Jack said and after getting agreement from everyone but Teyla the group dropped the conversation.

* * *

Parent's week had been interesting so far. Most of the parent's had arrived yesterday, Laura's mother had been among the first, she was the exact opposite of her daughter, quiet and reserved but the two seemed to be pretty close. Rodney's and Radek's parents got along about as well as their kids did. The competitive parents had been at it ever since they discovered that their children were two of the most intelligent in the whole school. Jack's mother and father had gotten here on the second day, the O'Neill's had kept a low profile though and poor Jack was just waiting for them to find out about the drugging incident. Janet's mother was here but her father had been unable to make it, Janet just seemed happy to see either of her parents. The rest of the parents were due to arrive today, in fact Carson, Kate and Daniel had just gone to meet the bus that was coming in from town since all their parent's were supposed to be on it.

Elizabeth had been distant and if he was honest John had been half expecting it. After what Teyla had told them yesterday morning he'd had a feeling that she would revert back to being the person he'd first met. She'd spent the day with her nose in a book, keeping herself separate from the rest of the group and not getting involved. Everyone had noticed but not all of them understood why she'd suddenly reverted back into the isolated, quiet person she used to be. He hadn't realised just how much she'd changed until she went back to her old ways.

She was currently sitting at the cafeteria table with everyone else but she'd sat herself on the end and pulled out her book. Teyla had made numerous attempts to drag her into the conversation but so far it was without success. Elizabeth would give brief replies, hum her acknowledgement or nod her head before going back to her book.

"Elizabeth, what could possibly be so interesting about that book?" Rodney questioned obliviously. "I mean it's not even factual, it's just some over dramatic story about some made up person."

"And how would you know that Rodney?" Laura questioned. "You read it?"

"No," Rodney replied in outrage. Elizabeth watched the exchange, bit her lip and turned back to her book without a word. Teyla caught John's gaze and met his worried eyes with her own concerned ones. At least lessons were over for the day and they wouldn't have to deal with her trying to pretend she was invisible whilst trying to concentrate on what the teacher was telling them. That being said, they were becoming experts at concentrating in lessons when they had something big to worry about.

* * *

Teal'cs adopted father had just arrived and after having met him Ronon, Teyla , Jack, John and Elizabeth had decided to give them some space and go have dinner down by the river. Elizabeth had tried to make an excuse about wanting to go to the library to study but Teyla hadn't even allowed her to finish the sentence before she had told her no. They waved to Teal'c as he headed toward the cafeteria with Bra' tac, the older man seemed nice and Teal'c had explained that he'd been a friend of his father's before he'd been killed serving the Protectorate's guild.

"Ronon and I will go and get some food from the cafeteria, we'll meet you down there," Teyla said as she turned to head that way.

"Quit volunteering me for stuff," Ronon replied with a huff and Teyla just smiled.

"Are you going to say no?" she questioned and Ronon sighed and turned to go with her. "Didn't think so."

"Are you sure you don't want us to come?" Jack asked. "We can get our own dinner."

"No, its fine, Ronon and I can manage," she replied. "You can just get my dinner next time. See you by the river."

Teyla and Ronon left then and the others continued down to the river, Elizabeth was carrying a new book in her hand and Jack figured she was going to have her nose in that the entire time again. He heard someone call her name and turned to see a young woman coming toward them with a man by her side. They were exactly as Teyla had described them and he already didn't like them.

"Father, Carly," Elizabeth greeted them and Teyla had been right about her reaction to them, she looked like she was resisting the urge to make a run for it.

"Your teachers have been nice about you so far," Carly stated as though she'd been expecting different and was just waiting for someone to say something bad about her. "Aren't you going to introduce your... friends here?"

"This is Jack O'Neill and John Sheppard," Elizabeth introduced as though she'd rather be doing something else, anything else.

"Governor's children" Nicolas Weir said. "You've collected quite a few of them Elizabeth."

"We're all in the Atala guild together," Jack told him hoping that the dislike he felt stayed mostly out of his voice and he at least sounded a little bit respectful. If there was one thing you learned as a Governor's child it was how to lie convincingly, all those Governor's event where the family had to look like they were infallible were bound to rub off on a person.

"I see, I believe you mentioned that in one your letters Elizabeth," Nicolas said turning to his daughter who nodded her head. Carly was looking over both men as though she was trying to figure something out and Jack didn't like it. Another thing you learned as a Governor's child was how to tell when you were standing in front of someone who could and would manipulate anything they had to. He understood what Teyla meant about a minute being long enough to judge these two.

"Yeah, Atala came first overall in the guild competition. We came first in both of Elizabeth's events too," John added in and it seemed like he was only just managing to keep his dislike to himself but that was probably more for Elizabeth's sake than theirs.

"I hear they're having a party here tomorrow" Carly said and Jack got the distinct impression she was trying to divert the attention to herself.

"End of year party, pretty much all the students go, we've been looking forward to it," Jack told them and Carly nodded her head.

"Sounds like fun," she stated and Jack spotted Ronon and Teyla leaving the cafeteria building with way more stuff than he'd been expecting.

"Looks like Ronon and Teyla bit off more than they can chew," Jack told John and Elizabeth who looked over to see their two friends. Teyla dropped something on the floor and Jack decided whatever it was wasn't his. "Let's go make sure we get a good spot down by the river."

"Sure," John replied and he turned back to Nicolas and Carly. "I hope you don't mind, if we don't get down to the river soon all the good places will be taken."

"Of course, go right ahead, I'm sure you have plans," Nicolas said.

"Come on, Elizabeth, before we have to fight someone for a spot," John joked and Elizabeth seemed all too eager to go. She nodded and said goodbye to her family before walking along between her two friends. Jack saw John subconsciously place a hand on Elizabeth's back which was probably becoming a habit now. He turned back and saw Carly narrow her eyes at the gesture and he got another bad feeling from her.

* * *

Teyla stood at the school gates, her father's coach was due to arrive any minute and she couldn't wait to see him. It had been almost a year since she'd left Athos, having missed out on the Christmas holidays she'd also missed out on seeing him. After everything that had happened this year seeing her father felt like a relief, she might be nineteen but she still felt safer in her father's presence than anywhere else. She'd dragged Elizabeth along with her, to keep her out of the library if nothing else, but she wanted her father to meet her room mate, her friend.

She heard the sound of horses, the hoofs hitting the ground and a moment later the coach came into view. She smiled and turned to Elizabeth who barely returned the gesture and Teyla made a mental note to hit Jack for putting a stop to her intervention plans, they were clearly necessary. The coach pulled up outside the school, a moment later her father stepped down and she ran over to hug him. He returned the gesture warmly and Teyla had never imagined she'd be so glad to see her father.

"Hi sweetheart," he greeted and Teyla hugged him tighter before she released him and stepped back. She turned to Elizabeth and motioned her over, her room mate following the gesture somewhat hesitantly.

"Dad, this is Elizabeth, my room mate," Teyla introduced.

"It's nice to meet you Governor," she greeted him respectfully and her father laughed.

"Please call me Tughan," he replied which seemed to surprise Elizabeth but given the way her father acted, demanding more respect than he deserved, she understood why Elizabeth would be surprised by a Governor who was far less formal than most. "Teyla has told me a lot about you in her letters; it's wonderful to put a face to a name."

"She talks about you all the time sir," Elizabeth stated still not dropping the overly respectful tone before turning to Teyla. "I'll let you and your father have some time," she said and nodded her head to Tughan before making the escape she was clearly desperate to make.

"She seems very nice," Tughan said after Elizabeth had left. "Very respectful."

"Yeah she is," Teyla replied. "So how have you been?"

"I've been fine, very busy and I apologise again for not being able to come here before Christmas, or even have you home," he stated and Teyla tried and failed not to roll her eyes at him. "I told you in my letters, the first dozen apologies were more than enough."

"I should have been here though, after what happened with your teacher," Tughan pressed and Teyla inwardly shuddered at the unwanted memory but she didn't want her father feeling guilty so she pushed it aside.

"I have very good friends, they took great care of me and I'm alright. Mathos is in prison awaiting trial and I'm safe and sound in school," she told him and her father nodded, clearly still not happy with himself for not having been here for her.

"Speaking of your good friends, where is this boyfriend of yours, I have judgements and lectures to make," her father stated and Teyla's eyes widened.

"Not a chance dad, Ronon is fantastic, he takes very good care of me and I'll not have you embarrassing me or him... or chasing him off," she said and he looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Jeremiah was not good for you, I did you a favour," he defended.

"That was my call to make, not yours," she replied.

"Fine, I'm sure I'll meet him at some point," he said and she opened her mouth to comment further when he cut her off. "I'll keep my lectures to a minimum but if he's not good for you I reserve the right to make a fatherly intervention."

* * *

"John," a voice called from behind him and John knew it had been too much to hope that she'd been transferred to another school. He'd gone through the last few months with just the occasional glace of her and in the last few weeks he hadn't seen her at all. There she was though, sauntering over to him in her mini skirt, leather boots and tank top, summer had always been Chaya's favourite time of year, it was a good excuse to wear less clothes.

"Chaya, long time no see," he said as she reached him somehow managing to force his voice into a pleasant tone.

"Oh I know but everything's been so busy," she replied sounding exhausted as though she'd just had to do everything all at once. He managed not to roll his eyes as she put her hand on his arm as though she was too tired to hold herself steady. He did however take a step back from her, the last thing he needed was to give her the wrong impression, more than she already had it anyway.

"What can I do for you Chaya?" he questioned, the faster he got her to the point the faster he could get rid of her.

"Oh nothing you wouldn't want to do anyway," she told him and he had a feeling he knew where this was going. "You and me, the end of year party, I mean of course you'd want to take me anyway but we should just make it official."

"I don't want to take you Chaya," he stated, he could have been nicer and more subtle about it but she wouldn't get the message if he did that.

"What? Don't be ridiculous," she replied. "Of course you do, we missed out on prom, this'll be the perfect chance to make up for it and we can get our relationship back on track."

"We don't have a relationship Chaya and I don't want to take you to the end of year party" he stated as bluntly and simply as he could. She looked a little hurt and he had to admit to feeling bad about that but she was so damn persistent. She never quit once she wanted something and she wasn't used to having to work to get it. The spoilt little Governor's child got everything handed to her on a silver platter, gold if she requested it. She hadn't wanted to go to school in her own country, Porculus didn't have very good schools when she'd first started high school and she'd demanded the best. So her parents had sent her to their neighbouring county, unfortunately that was John's.

He'd been a kid when he'd met her, then she'd come to his school and he'd just been a typical teenager. He'd started seeing Chaya partly because it was expected of him and partly because back then he'd thought she was what he wanted, gorgeous girl, money in her pocket so she wasn't after his and the same status. She hadn't been one of those girls who wanted to be with him because of the position it would get them into, she already had it all. It had been over a year before he'd seen her for what she really was, a spoilt little princess who manipulated everyone around her. He'd outgrown her and it really hadn't taken much growing up to do it.

"I'm sorry Chaya, but we were finished back in high school, we're over," he told her and after a moment to gain her composure she smiled at him.

"First of all I know you don't mean that and secondly, we're far from over, you'll come to your senses sooner or later," she stated before walking away somehow managing to retain her superiority despite having just been turned down.

* * *

Jack spotted Sam leaving Entrix tower and ran to catch up with her as she headed for the cafeteria. He was supposed to be meeting John and Teyla there, Elizabeth was hiding in her room and Teyla had been talking about an intervention again. Jack wasn't so sure it was a good idea to get involved, he loved Elizabeth like a sister but he knew nothing about her relationship with her family. He had to admit though he was starting to worry about her as well now.

"Hey, going my way?" he questioned and Sam turned to him with a smile.

"That depends on where you're going," she told him.

"Cafeteria, I think Teyla wants to plan an intervention, get Elizabeth to come back out of her shell," he replied sounding as unenthusiastic with the idea as he felt.

"Well, I haven't had the pleasure of meeting her family yet but from the way Elizabeth's reacted I don't think I want to" Sam stated with a sigh.

"No, you really don't," Jack said and then opted to change subject before he could get annoyed. "Did your dad arrive?"

"Yeah, he made a quick stop to see me and Daniel before he headed to the hotel in town. He went to see Mark too but as usual my brother was nowhere to be found when my dad's around," she told him sounding exasperated, they way she usually sounded when she was talking about her brother. "I guess every family has their issues, at least I don't have to dread seeing mine."

"Yeah, poor Elizabeth," Jack stated.

"Maybe she'll cheer up tomorrow, end of year party," Sam suggested.

"I'm not counting on it. You got a date then?" he asked and for the life of him he couldn't figure out why he'd just asked that.

"No, but most people don't," she replied. "Why, you offering?"

Jack froze; he supposed he might as well follow through since his big mouth had already started this. "Maybe," he said; _such a cop out_. "What would you say if I was?"

"I might say yes," Sam told him and Jack almost had to laugh at his own awkwardness.

"Well in that case, will you go to the end of year party with me?" he questioned getting it out of the way before his mouth could say something else stupid.

"Yes," Sam replied and Jack didn't bother to fight off his grin. "Come on, before the others start wondering where you are."

* * *

John walked into the library to find Elizabeth reading some book she'd probably grabbed off a nearby shelf. She didn't seem to care what she was reading at the moment as long as she had some way to detach herself from everyone else. Her family had been there for two days now and she seemed to be hiding as much from them as her friends. He walked over and sat down in front of her, the library was probably not the best place to have this conversation especially since it was the mean librarian on duty. He'd just have to find a way to get her to leave.

She looked up and gave him a forced smile of acknowledgement. He understood why she'd want to hide from her family, he'd probably hide from them too, but her friends only wanted to help her she seemed determined not to let them.

"Take a walk with me," he requested and she gave him another forced smile and shook her head.

"I want to get to the end of the chapter" she told him.

"Fine, I'll wait," he replied and she sighed as she looked up at him again.

"What do you want John?" she questioned, she sounded tired, like she'd had enough of everything.

"I want you to take a walk with me," he stated and she looked like she was about to decline again so he cut her off. "I'll stand up and start shouting about it, seriously, I'll cause a huge scene, we'll get kicked out of the library, probably banned for a while, reported to the principle," he told her and she game him a look like she didn't believe him. He stood up and took a breath ready to start causing a scene so she grabbed his arm and tried to make him sit back down.

"Alright, fine," she said quickly and he smiled as he waited for her to stand up. She put her book back on the shelf and followed him out of the library and down toward the trees that separated the main school ground from the river. He waited until they'd crossed into the tree line before he spoke again.

"Everyone's worried about you," he stated, there was no point in dancing around the subject, especially with Elizabeth. She refused to meet his eyes, looking at the ground instead.

"They don't need to be," she replied. "I'm fine."

"Elizabeth, you've spent most of the last two days hiding in the library. You barely talk to us during lessons or in the cafeteria. I think we do have reason to be worried about you," he explained. Elizabeth still refused to look at him so he stopped warming and gently took hold of her arm to stop her as well. They were almost through the trees now, he could hear the sound of other students down by the river and he knew she'd shut herself off again once they were around other people.

"I'm fine," she repeated.

"Elizabeth, I've met your family, fair enough they don't seem like the nicest people I've ever met but that's their problem. It doesn't change what we think about you and it doesn't mean you have to go back to hiding in that shell you seem so fond of," he told her. "We care about you, I care about you and we're not moving from this spot until I get a genuine smile out of you, not that forced crap you keep giving me."

She didn't move, didn't say anything and he worried he'd said the wrong thing in there at some point, words weren't his strong point. She finally looked up at him and there was more emotion in her eyes than he'd ever seen from her, even drugged. He didn't know which of them was more surprised when she reached out and wrapped her arms around him. It was so sudden and unexpected that it took him a moment to return the gesture and then they just stood there like that.

Unsurprisingly, Elizabeth was the one to break the moment, John would happily have stayed there for an hour. She looked completely shocked and unsure of herself. It had been way out of character for her but he figured she'd probably needed a hug for the last few days, possibly the last few years.

"Come on," John said before any awkwardness could develop. "The others are in the cafeteria, they'll all be happy to see you. Hell, you could shock the life out of them and actually speak to them."

Elizabeth smiled the genuine smile he'd been hoping for and he hadn't realised how much he'd missed it until then. He nodded his head with a smile of his own. "See that wasn't so hard was it? You don't even have a book you can hide behind."

"Alright, that's enough, I get it," she replied and lightly smacked his arm as they made their way to the cafeteria. The others were there debating who had won the bet on Jack asking Sam to the end of year party.

"Hey guys, John would you tell Cameron I won the bet," Teyla said and John shrugged.

"Radek was keeping track of the bets, I told you I didn't want to get involved," John told her and since Radek and Rodney were the only two members of the group that weren't there it looked like the argument was going to continue. John and Elizabeth took their seats at the end of the table and Teyla turned to Elizabeth with narrowed eyes.

"Where's your book?" she questioned.

"I don't have it," Elizabeth replied.

"She speaks!" Jack exclaimed and faked a heart attack until Sam smacked over the back of the head.

"That's not funny."

TBC


	30. Chapter 30

**Steph – **I had a feeling the hug would go down well with certain people lol. I hope I got Elizabeth's family right, I wanted it to be immediately apparent how horrible they were but without making it too unbelievable. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Dr Rosemary Weir – **There is more John and Elizabeth to come, I'm glad you liked the last chapter and yeah, I'd hide from Elizabeth's family too.

**Bite Beccy – **I hope Elizabeth's family were believable as well as horrible lol. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Bunnylass – **Feel free to have as many pops at Carly as you want, just don't damage your computer in the process lol. You won't see too much of Carly's hidden agenda's in this particular fic but they will be revealed later along with why her father is they way he is. I'm glad you liked the hug, more sparky in this chapter; I hope you enjoy it, thanks for the review.

**Belanna30 – **Thanks for the review, I'm glad you liked the addition of a sister she's going to be an interesting plot device for later fics. The dance really is going to be interesting, I'm glad you liked the hug and I hope you like this chapter too.

* * *

Chapter 30

Teyla came out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her head and only her bra and underwear on. Her dress was still on a hanger near the wardrobe to keep it from getting creased and she relaxed and slowed herself down when she saw that she still had plenty of time to get ready. Elizabeth was in the same state of dress as Teyla was except instead of wondering around in just her underwear she'd put a tank top and shorts on. She was currently sat at the dresser with the hair dryer and a brush as she dried her hair and Teyla cursed that she hadn't replaced her own hairdryer yet. It had blown a fuse a few weeks back and since then she'd been sharing Elizabeth's.

"I'm almost done," Elizabeth said over the sound of the small device as though she'd been reading her room mate's mind. Teyla grabbed a shirt from her wardrobe, one that came down to her thighs and slipped it on so she wouldn't feel quite so naked. Elizabeth flicked off the hairdryer and placed it down on the dresser standing up and gesturing for Teyla to take her place.

"I'm doing your hair," Teyla stated as she switched places with her room mate.

Elizabeth had obviously learned not to bother arguing about it anymore; instead she used her usual tactic, negotiation. "Fine, but I get to do my own make up."

Teyla thought for a moment. "Fine."

Teyla got to work on drying her hair using the brush to make it dry in the right place. Elizabeth took her dress out of her wardrobe and Teyla smiled as she looked over it still unsure. The poor woman had been ganged up on by the rest of the girls when they'd gone shopping. She'd wanted a plain, simple dress and in a way that's what she'd gotten but she hadn't been all that sure about it. She'd looked stunning in it though and the rest of the girls had made damn sure she'd bought it.

She finished drying her hair while Elizabeth did her make up and Teyla decided she'd get her with the mascara once she was done. As soon as her hair was dry she stood up and gestured for Elizabeth to sit down. She picked up the mascara and Elizabeth tried to protest but was forced to stay still as the mascara got near her eyes.

"I'm sure that wasn't the deal," Elizabeth said once she was done and Teyla shrugged as she made a start on her friend's hair. She pinned some of it back, allowing strands of it to fall loosely around her face and decided once again that she was very good at this.

"All done," Teyla said as she nudged Elizabeth out of the chair so she could do her own hair. Elizabeth went to get dressed, taking her dress into the bathroom along with the bag that had her shoes and jewellery in. It didn't take Teyla long to do her hair and she got up and changed into her dress before Elizabeth could finish up in the bathroom. The blue, green fabric hugged her upper body tightly and loosened up over her legs going down to just below her knees. She slipped her blue stiletto heals on and was just putting her jewellery one when Elizabeth came out of the bathroom looking uncomfortable.

"You look fantastic," Teyla assured her. The red silk fabric was similar in shape to Teyla's at the top, tightly hugging her curves with thin straps over her shoulder and just the smallest bit of cleavage showing, enough to be sexy without being too much. It flowed loosely over her legs, just slightly longer than Teyla's. She was wearing strappy silver stilettos with a smaller heal and silver jewellery to match; she was going to knock John dead.

"Okay, well, I think I'm ready," Elizabeth stated and Teyla nodded.

"I'd say we both are," she replied and stood up. She glanced in the mirror to make sure everything looked okay and then turned back to her room mate. "Let's get going."

They headed out of the building joining the crowds of people that were all dressed for the party. As soon as they entered the main building they could hear the music from the party and Teyla spotted Ronon standing outside the entrance to the Assembly hall, right where he'd agreed to meet her. She walked over to him with a smile on her face; he looked good in his suit though he wasn't quite as dressed up as most of the other guys that passed them by. He was wearing the black pants, the shirt, the jacket and the shoes but he hadn't tucked his shirt in and the top few buttons were undone.

"Don't you look good," she said as she reached him and he dropped a kiss on her cheek.

"You look amazing," he told her and then turned to Elizabeth. "So do you."

Elizabeth looked at the floor and Teyla smiled and turned to Ronon. "Wait until John sees her," she whispered so Elizabeth wouldn't overhear.

"Let's go in," Ronon stated. "Most of the others are already here."

Teyla linked arms with Ronon and walked into the Assembly hall grabbing Elizabeth's hand on the way. The hall had been redecorated for the party, probably magically, and it looked like a different room. She spotted the rest of their group easily enough through the crowd and smiled to herself when she spotted John stood with Cameron and Vala. She went straight over and noticed Vala smile at her, John turned around to follow her gaze and Teyla barely managed to keep herself from laughing at the look on his face, his jaw actually dropped for a moment when he saw Elizabeth.

Vala grabbed him by the arm and dragged him over obviously aware of what Teyla was trying to do. Cameron smirked and followed them as Vala grinned at Elizabeth. "You look great," she told them giving Teyla a knowing look.

John cleared his throat. "Yeah, you both look good," he said and though he'd been talking about both of them his eyes seemed to be glued to Elizabeth.

"I'll get drinks," Teyla stated and dragged Ronon away to the refreshments table.

* * *

Sam had arrived at the party with Jack, him in his tux and her in her green dress and healed shoes. It was both strange and comforting being his date and she wondered when exactly she'd gone from being his friend to his date and how she hadn't noticed the change in their relationship. She smiled at him as he handed her a drink and she looked around, all of their friends had arrived and everyone looked amazing. Elizabeth was wearing the dress they'd all made her buy and she looked absolutely stunning, just as Teyla had planned.

There were a fair few of the parents hanging around the party, younger siblings who would be joining the school next year and so had tagged along were wondering around too. Her father had gone back to his hotel in town, he was a busy man, always had been and it was one of the reasons for the rift between him and her brother. She'd spotted Mark at the party with his girlfriend shortly after she'd gotten there but she hadn't bothered going over to talk to him, no point ruining a good night by getting into an argument.

Jack's parents had made a brief appearance, maybe to check on their son but they hadn't come over and left no sooner than they'd arrived. Laura's mother was here, she was talking to some of the other parents, including Rodney's and they seemed to get along much better than their children. She'd seen Daniel's parents just before the party, she'd said hello and asked them how they were doing but if they were still in the school they weren't making an appearance at the party.

"Dance with me," Jack requested and Sam put her drink down on the nearby table and followed him to the dance floor. It was easy to get into the rhythm... until the song ended and a slower one came on. She froze for a moment but then internally shook her head at herself, she was a grown woman and she was here with a date. Jack stepped closer to her and it made her feel better than she wasn't the only one feeling awkward at the moment. His hands went to her waist and hers to his shoulders as they moved and she could feel several sets of eyes watching them.

She'd actually gotten comfortable when the song ended and another fast one started and she decided she definitely needed another drink, even if it did have to be a non alcoholic one. She knew several students had somehow managed to sneak alcohol into the party and it had become obvious earlier that the punch had been spiked but she wasn't going to go get drunk. The school had extended crew for the party; she wasn't going to ruin it by getting confined to her room. Even as a nineteen year old the school would happily send her to her room if she broke the rules.

They left the dance floor just as Ronon and Teyla headed on and Laura had somehow managed to drag Carson out there too. They took seats at their table and Jack went to get them more drinks. Vala dropped into the chair next to her with a smile on her face.

"Having fun?" she questioned and Sam rolled her eyes.

"Don't start," she replied.

"Wasn't gonna say a thing," Vala stated and stood up to leave again. "Cameron, dance with me."

* * *

Elizabeth was talking to Laura and Janet and for some reason Teyla was staring at her. She had no clue what had suddenly gotten on her room mate's nerves but in the last fifteen minutes Teyla had snapped at her twice. She shrugged it off, whatever it was she would deal with it later; it was possible that it wasn't even her fault, maybe Ronon had annoyed her. She had enough to worry about anyway, she'd spotted her father and Carly at the party somewhere and she had no idea where they were now but something told her they hadn't left. She would probably have driven herself crazy worrying about it but then Teyla got up and stalked over to her with a look that said it was entirely Elizabeth's fault she was in a bad mood.

"What is wrong with you two?" she questioned and Elizabeth caught sight of Vala gesturing for Laura and Janet to escape while they still could.

"What are you talking about?" Elizabeth questioned.

"Don't pretend you don't know, I practically handed this to you on a silver platter," Teyla snapped and Elizabeth's eyes widened.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Elizabeth told her. "Maybe if you started making sense," she suggested which just seemed to make Teyla even madder.

"I swear I should just bash your heads together, do I need to spell it out for you?" she questioned. "You and John, you're practically attached at the hip but neither of you will admit to being anything other than friends. You're going to drive me crazy... you know what, I _will_ spell it out for you, I'm going to go and tell him right now."

"What?" Elizabeth exclaimed as Teyla turned on her heal and headed over to John. She tried to grab her arm to stop her but Teyla was too quick and Elizabeth ended up chasing her across the party to where Jack, John and Marcus were standing.

"John, I need to talk to you," Teyla stated as she approached the guys and John looked at her in confusion as Elizabeth came to a stop beside Jack looking mortified. "You and Elizabeth are driving me crazy and if neither of you are going to admit right now how you feel then I'm going to do it for you. I mean seriously John, I handed her over to you looking like the sexiest woman in here, come on, what do I have to do?"

"Teyla, I don't..." John began but was cut off by Teyla's groan of frustration.

"You're practically in love with her..." Teyla began.

"Oh God," Elizabeth cringed and buried her face in Jack's arm as though she thought hiding might make this all go away.

"And she's practically in love with you too," Teyla continued and Elizabeth didn't bother waiting around to hear any more of it. She turned and headed for the nearest exit, all but running out of the assembly hall and into the school corridors. She thought she might have made an escape but then a voice behind her stopped her and she turned around, this was the last thing she needed.

"Where are you going?" Carly questioned, their father standing by her side.

"Not now Carly," Elizabeth said and was about to walk away when Carly continued.

"They're not your friends, not really," she told her. "I mean seriously, when have you really had friends? They're jus using you, for your position, your money, maybe even a little bit of your intelligence, I'm sure you could carry them through school here and that way they don't have to try."

"We think it would be best if you didn't spend any more time with them" her father added which surprised Elizabeth, she knew Carly would be spiteful but why her father. He wouldn't say it if he didn't think it was true, would he? "We don't need you causing trouble here at school, Carly starts in September and I want it to be a smooth transition for her. If you and your so called friends have made that difficult I won't be pleased."

"You don't now them," Elizabeth stated.

"I don't need to, I've dealt with people just like them all my life," her father said and Elizabeth shook her head and left.

* * *

"Guys," Jack interrupted Teyla's rant and John turned to look at him. "The subject of your conversation just ran out of here."

Sure enough, Elizabeth had disappeared and Jack was already heading to the nearby exit. They walked out of it in time to hear voices down the corridor, one was Elizabeth's, the others might have been her family. John decided that Teyla had been completely right and her family were the most horrible people that he'd ever met, how dare they tell her they didn't really care about her. They ran down the corridor as Carly and her father were heading back to the party. Teyla glared at Carly as she passed but Jack pulled her along, Elizabeth couldn't have gotten that far. They made it out of the main building but it was dark and they couldn't see her anywhere.

"She probably went back to our room," Teyla stated and both men nodded and followed her to the girl's dorms. Guard patrols merely nodded at them, curfew had been put back until midnight but that didn't mean they didn't need to patrol and students were limited to the parties and the dorms.

Elizabeth wasn't in her room, Teyla went to check the bathroom but they weren't holding out much hope since none of the lights were on. She came out a moment later and shook her head, Jack cursed under his breath.

"Where could she have gone?" he questioned.

John thought for a minute. "I know where she is; wait here in case she comes back."

Teyla and Jack nodded as John ran out of the room; he had to avoid the guard patrols as he made his way down to the trees and through them to the river. It took him a few minutes to find her but she was sat there, not far from the water's edge, her skirt draped over her legs as she hugged her knees to her chest. He breathed a sigh of relief and walked over sitting down next to her without a word and just staying that way for a moment.

"They were wrong you know," he stated and she didn't move her gaze from the water. "We do care about you, we're your friends because we want to be and we don't want anything from you."

She sighed. "I know."

"Do you?" he asked her and she finally turned to look at him.

"Six months ago I would have said no," she replied. "But yeah, I do know that now."

"Good, just wanted to clear that up straight away," he said and she half smiled as she returned her eyes to the water.

"How did you find me?" she questioned.

"You always go away from people when you need to think, the library is closed and the campus is crawling with students. This was about the only place you could have gone," he explained and she nodded her head slowly. He decided he might as well risk it, Teyla had dragged them this far and this would never settle if they didn't do something about it. "Was Teyla right?"

He felt her stiffen next to him as though she'd been hoping he'd just ignore that part of the night but he couldn't he didn't want to. He waited patiently for her to answer, he wasn't about to push her any more than he had on the subject. "Yeah."

She'd said it so shakily and quiet that he was tempted to ask her to repeat it just to be sure he'd heard correctly. "Good."

"Good?" she questioned turning to look at him for the strange reply and he nodded his head.

"Yeah, good," he said and then turned to kiss her. She stiffened again at the contact and for a moment he thought she as going to push him away but instead she pulled him closer. He hadn't realised just how much he'd wanted this until that moment. He ran his thumb across her cheek and moved his hand to the back of her head and he would have sat there for hours if he could.

He couldn't though because there was a noise in the trees behind them that forced them apart and John turned to see the flash light heading in their directions. "Guard patrol," he suggested and Elizabeth nodded. They'd be in a hell of a lot of trouble if they got caught down here so he stood up and offered Elizabeth his hand. She accepted it and he pulled her up before they made their way into the trees away from the guard that was heading toward them.

Elizabeth stopped for a second with a frustrated look on her face. "These shoes are not meant for this."

He would have laughed if the guard wasn't still heading in their direction, he grabbed her hand and they continued back onto school grounds not relaxing until they were near the dorms. They were stopped as they entered the dorms by one of the guards who informed them that boys were not allowed in the girl's dorms after curfew.

"Curfew's been put back remember, we just need to get her purse," he told the guard who looked thoughtful for a moment and then nodded. John thanked him and then walked into the dorms with Elizabeth right behind him. Teyla practically jumped on her when they entered the room, hugging her room mate tightly.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to upset you," Teyla told her. "You're just so frustrating!"

"It's alright," Elizabeth replied. "You were right anyway."

Teyla stepped back looking suspicious. "What did I miss?"

"I'll tell you later," Elizabeth told her while Jack just slapped John on the back.

"The party's over in half an hour, I think I'm just going to call it a night," Teyla said much to the surprise of everyone else in the room.

"Well I need to get back, Sam will be wondering where I am, we'll let you girl's sleep," Jack told them "And I'll tell Ronon where you are."

"Thank you" Teyla replied and Jack nodded as he headed for the door, waiting there for John. He gave Elizabeth one last look but decided to leave it at that for the night; they probably needed to think about things.

"Night girls," he said and followed Jack out of the room.

TBC


	31. Chapter 31

**Authors Note: Okay guys, so this is actually the second to last chapter. I can't believe how long it's taken to get here, I don't think I've ever spent so long on a story as I have on my current two. Hope you all enjoy it. **

**Steph – **Thanks for the review, I'm glad you enjoyed the sparky scene, I had a feeling you would lol. As for sparky overload, not yet I'm afraid. I still intend to make their relationship a slow burn type but you will get a little more sparky. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Bunnylass – **Poor Teyla, I understand her frustration, I felt it right along with her lol. Carly deserves a good kick; her father could probably do with one too. I have big, evil plans for them as the series goes on. Thanks for the review, I', glad you enjoyed the sparky and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Cinderella2122 – **I like exclamation points lol, you can never use too many in my opinion. Thanks for the review, I'd hate going home too if I had Elizabeth's family. Thanks for the review; I'm glad you liked the sparky.

**Belanna30 – **I so have been waiting to write that chapter, I'll admit I was a little nervous about writing it after making people wait so long but I'm glad you liked it. I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter and I hope you enjoy this one too, thanks for the review.

**Kuro – **I think if I had Elizabeth's family I would have made a break for the circus years ago lol. I have lots of plans for Carly and her father over the course of the series and yes, her coming to the school is not going to be fun for Elizabeth. I'm glad you liked the sparky scene; I hope it was worth the long wait. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

* * *

Chapter 31

John grabbed the note that had been stuck to the girl's door; it was the same as the one that had been stuck to his and Jack's doors. Jack knocked on the door and they waited for the two girl's to answer. It was Elizabeth that opened the door and she smiled, stepping back to let them both into the room as she went to sit at the dresser.

"Note on your door," John told her as she ran a brush through her hair. "We have to be in an assembly at 9."

"Elizabeth, where's my skin cream?" Teyla's voice called from the bathroom.

"It's out here, right where you left it yesterday," Elizabeth replied as she stood up and grabbed the small bottle from next to her. She walked over to the bathroom and knocked on the door, it opened a moment later and Elizabeth gave the bottle to the hand that appeared. It disappeared again and the door closed, Elizabeth shook her head as she took the note from John and read it.

"I wonder what that's about," she said putting the note down on the desk.

John watched as Elizabeth put her things into her bag. It was weird they were acting like nothing had changed, like last night had never happened. For a moment he entertained the thought that maybe it had all been in his head, it wouldn't be the first time he'd imagined kissing Elizabeth. Teyla came out of the bathroom a moment later, dressed in a skirt and top. She grabbed her shoes from her wardrobe and dropped to the bed with a sigh.

"Do excuse Teyla," Elizabeth began with a glance at her room mate. "She's not in a very good mood, her favourite shirt is missing."

"Which one's that?" Jack asked.

"The blue one with the flower pattern on the pocket," Elizabeth replied.

"Oh you mean the one in that basket there," Jack said and pointed to the basket in the corner of the room. It was filled with folded clothes and Teyla's shirt was sticking out from somewhere in the middle. Teyla jumped up and ran across pulling it out and glaring at it as though it was the shirt's fault it had been hidden.

"I asked you if you'd checked your laundry," Elizabeth stated in annoyance.

"Well I didn't think it was in there," Teyla defended and put the shirt on her bed. She grabbed her bag and headed for the door. "Who's coming for breakfast?"

Elizabeth rolled her eyes as she followed Teyla out of the room, Jack and John were right behind them. John made sure the door closed behind him and then ran to catch up with the others falling in step beside Elizabeth. Jack and Teyla were in front of them arguing about something that sounded suspiciously like vegetables and John decided he didn't want to know. The left the dorms and John stopped Elizabeth; he took hold of her arm and turned her to him dropping a kiss on her lips.

"Just wanted to make sure that actually happened," he told her and she smiled as he kissed her again.

"Alright you two, that's enough of that, let's go," Teyla said and Elizabeth rolled her eyes again. She just couldn't win with that girl, last night she'd been mad because they weren't together today she didn't want to see it.

"Teyla, I'm opposed to violence but I swear I'm going to strangle you before we finish at this school," Elizabeth half joked as she walked over to Teyla and the two girls continued walking. Jack moved to stand next to John who had caught sight of someone out of the corner of his eye.

"She doesn't look happy," Jack commented as he too spotted Carly. John shrugged, Carly wasn't his problem, as long as she didn't upset Elizabeth again he didn't care at that moment. "Let's go."

* * *

"Be aware that we will continue to investigate these matters and the students responsible will be found," Morlin informed the students. The entire school had been gathered together for that morning's assembly. Apparently someone had covered the Principle's office with toilet paper, left graffiti all over both the faculty dorms and the exam building and flooded the men's toilets on the third floor of the main building among other things. Of course no one owned up but Ronon's money was on either the fifth years since they were leaving the school permanently in a little over a week or Kolya and his two little minions.

Kolya was sat there looking smug while Sora and Laden tried not to look guilty. A confirmation that they had been involved in at least some of the 'pranks' that had been pulled last night. A couple of seniors at the back of the hall were snickering to themselves too, so they had obviously been up to no good as well. Morlin finally dismissed everyone and people began filtering out of the hall.

"Who wants to bet they used magic to clean up the hall last night?" Marcus questioned.

"Well I doubt they would have been able to get it cleaned up so fast otherwise," Janet replied as they left the hall.

"Well I'm going to go enjoy what's left of my free period," Ronon stated.

"And since Phys Ed had been cancelled all week, we'll come with you," Teyla told him. "But first I have to go and get my General Magic book; I left it in my room."

"I'll come," Ronon said and waved off the others as he followed her to the girl's dorms.

"You know," Teyla began as they were walking across the grass. "You haven't mentioned your parent's this week, or ever, where are they?"

Ronon stopped still for a moment and Teyla followed suit, turning back to look at him curiously. He knew it wasn't her fault, like she said, he never mentioned his parents so she couldn't have known but it still made him want to walk away right there. He couldn't do it to her though and he supposed if this relationship was going anywhere, or even if it wasn't, she was going to find out eventually anyway.

"They're dead," he told her and she opened her mouth as if to say 'oh' but no sound came out. "It's not your fault, you didn't know."

"I'm sorry," she managed to say.

"It was a long time ago, they were killed by a gang of Wraith when I was eight," he explained and she nodded her head suddenly looking unsure of herself. "I live in an orphanage, I'm part of the student program which means even though I'm an adult I can stay there until I finish school here. I just have to work there during the holidays."

"I probably shouldn't have asked," Teyla stated looking guilty now and Ronon shook his head and took the few steps between them. He put an arm over her shoulders as they continued to walk.

"I'm glad you know now," he replied and she wrapped her own arm around his waist tightly.

* * *

Jack had a bad feeling as he stepped back to allow his parents into his room. They hadn't looked too happy when he'd opened the door to them and they weren't looking any happier as he let them in. He gestured to the couch and watched as his mother sat down; his father remained standing, glaring angrily at him. Jack was not a man who was easily intimidated but he would be a complete liar if he said that he wasn't just a little bit afraid of his father.

"So, what brings you to my room?" Jack questioned when it became apparent his parents had no intention of speaking first.

"Of all the things I'd never have expected to have to talk you about, drugs," his father replied and Jack froze. Thoughts went through his mind so fast he almost had to sit down, how could they have found out; how much did they know?

"How did you..." He began to ask.

"One of your teachers," his father cut in. "They were talking about how well you've done this year despite everything that happened with your friends and the drugs. Imagine my surprise when I found out that you'd been investigated not just for taking drugs but supplying them and spiking other people's food and drinks with them. Then imagine my embarrassment that I had no idea what they were talking about."

"It's not as bad as it sounds," Jack tried to defend himself.

"Then why would you keep it a secret from us?" his father asked.

"Because it happened at the same time Alex died," Jack replied. Both his parent's stiffened at the mention of his brother. "I didn't want to give you more to worry about."

It wasn't the whole truth but it was part of it.

"What happened?" his father asked.

"It was another student, we thought he was a friend but he was spiking my food and drinks as well as couple of my friends and some other students. I found out it was him and went to the Principle, he's in prison now awaiting trial," Jack explained briefly, leaving out the more unpleasant details of his addiction and the weekly meetings he was still going to.

"You should have told us, I should not have found out from a teacher," his father said and Jack nodded his head.

"I'm sorry, I didn't want to make things worse for you when Alex had just died," Jack told him and his father nodded this time.

"We're leaving tomorrow morning, we'll be going straight from town so we'll see you when you get home next week."

* * *

Sam hugged her father with the promise of seeing him in a week. He kissed her forehead and she smiled to him as he went to get in his carriage. It was a long trip back to Alteran City, four days at least and she wasn't looking all that forward to making the trip herself. At least she'd have Daniel to keep her company; they always travelled together since they were going to pretty much the same place. Daniel's parent's had left aboard the bus from town earlier that morning, they'd said their goodbye's to their son yesterday.

Jacob gave her one last wave from the carriage and Sam smiled as she looked around her. There was still no sign of Mark, he could have at least made a quick appearance to say bye. She was sure his friends were all seeing their parents off; would thirty seconds have really been that bad?

The carriage left and Sam walked over to where Jack was waiting for her, she wasn't quite sure yet where she stood with him but she hoped she would at least find out before the summer holidays. Rodney was saying goodbye to his parents, so were Carson, Laura and Janet. She decided she might as well wait for them to finish up before they headed back to the cafeteria.

"We'll see you soon honey," Rodney's parent's told him as his mother lathered him in kisses and used several other more embarrassing names, most of the food related, when she referred to her son. Sam stored the names away for later, if Rodney got annoying again she could always pull them out to make him shut up. That was if Laura didn't get to him with her bag of lemons first.

"Your sister misses you, she wanted to come but she didn't want to miss school, especially since she's still waiting on her acceptance here," his father stated and Sam raised an eyebrow, she didn't even know Rodney had a sister. She really hoped she wasn't too much like Rodney, she didn't think the school could handle two of them at once.

"We miss you so much," his mother continued her smothering.

"Leave the poor boy alone," his father said. "You're embarrassing him in front of his friends."

"Oh but he's just so adorable" his mother commented not letting up and Sam chocked back her laugh. "It's not right for him to be so far from home, he's still just my beautiful, little, baby boy."

That did it, Sam only had so much self control and the last thing she wanted to do was burst into fits of laughter in front of his parents. She turned around and started walking away, managing to keep her laughter quiet until she'd put some distance between them. Jack followed with a look of amusement on his face as he glanced back at a mortified Rodney.

"Well," Jack began "At least there's no lack of love in that family."

"What?" they heard Laura exclaim rather loudly and looked back to see her doubled over with laughter. Her mother had already left and she was waiting with Carson and Janet for Rodney. Her two friends looked like they were barely containing their own laughter and Janet followed Sam's example grabbing Laura and dragging her in their direction. Carson was just a few steps behind them and even he looked like he was having a hard time not laughing.

"What did we miss?" Jack questioned.

"Rodney is... his... middle... name," Laura said between laughs barely managing to string a sentence together.

"What's his name then?" Sam asked looking to Janet and Carson who despite laughing now were far more composed than Laura.

"Meredith," Janet told her and both Sam and Jack joined the laughter as Rodney's parents left and the poor man came over red faced.

* * *

John wrote down the definitions of the terms he was going to need to know for next year. He more or less copied it straight from the text book, just changing a few of the words to make it more understandable. Sociology was not his favourite subject but at least for the time being the lesson was easy. They'd been there ten minutes and the professor had already told them that once they'd written down the definitions they could go. Lessons were all the same at the moment, a small easy bit of work and then they were dismissed, he had more free time than he knew what to do with.

He glanced at Elizabeth; it was weird how despite the massive change their relationship had suddenly taken things weren't that different. She must have sensed his gaze on her because she looked up and offered him a small smile.

"The faster you do the definitions the faster we can go get lunch," she told him and John shrugged.

"That would only work if I was Rodney, no excuse me, Meredith," John told her, Laura had wasted no time in telling everyone what Rodney's actual name was. He was sure the novelty of it would wear off eventually but for now everyone was enjoying a few jokes here and there. It had taken some of the focus off John and Elizabeth, as had Jack and Sam's interesting new dynamic and for that he was grateful. It was hard to figure out what this relationship was with everyone's eyes on you all the time.

"Leave him alone," she said but he could tell she was as amused by it as everyone else.

"Would you two quit flirting and get on with the work, I wanna be out of here in five minutes," Jack told them and John turned to him.

"Oh of course, Sam isn't in class is she," he threw back and watched as Jack opened closed his mouth several times and then went back to his work.

"So I was thinking," John began suddenly feeling nervous which was probably pathetic. "We could go for dinner, on Saturday, if you wanted to."

Elizabeth smiled, whether at the suggestion or his sudden awkwardness he didn't know but smiling had to be a good thing, right?

"Sounds good," she replied and he felt Jack nudge his arm.

"Four minutes," he stated and John rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to the definitions that were half written on his paper.

"Alright, I'm on it."

* * *

Parent's week hadn't been as bad as Elizabeth had been expecting but that was no thanks to her father and Carly. She was honestly glad that they were leaving even if she was going to have to go home to them in a week. At least they had nothing new to use against her, she'd received great reports from all her teachers and as far as her friends were concerned, they were nothing like Carly and her father would have her believe.

"At least consider what we said about the people you choose to spend your time with," her father said, Nicolas Weir was nothing if not persistent. He was also wrapped around Carly's finger, whatever his younger daughter wanted she got.

"I don't need to," Elizabeth replied trying not to sound disrespectful. She was going to have to spend the entire seven weeks of her summer holidays at home; she didn't need to be making things more difficult for herself.

"Well, I'll be here next year anyway, I'm sure I can keep a very close eye on those friends of yours," Carly told her smugly. It sounded like a threat as much as anything else but Elizabeth couldn't quite figure out what the threat was.

"I'll see you in a week," Elizabeth stated and her father merely bid her goodbye before heading to the carriage that was waiting just outside the school gate. Other parents were departing as well, carriages and busses leaving the front of the school one after the other. Carly gave her a smile as their father called for her. She turned and left without another word and Elizabeth breathed a sigh of relief as John walked up behind her. Turning to him she offered him a smile and he put a hand on her back, gently nudging her back into the school. She gave the carriage with her family in it one last look before it left and she didn't like the look she got in return from Carly.

"Come on," John said. "The others are waiting for us."

She didn't want to be the one to keep Vala and Teyla from shopping, the two girls wanted to buy new clothes for the holidays and the rest of the group were going with them. The boys were going to go find another way to entertain themselves for a couple of hours before they all met up for dinner. She was nervously looking forward to tomorrow, dinner with John was going to be... interesting. Neither of them had mentioned it since John had asked her to go but they obviously had things to talk about. The rest of the group were waiting in the cafeteria Jack was just finishing off some cake and Rodney was stuffing several chocolate bars into his pocket.

"Alright, let's go," Vala practically jumped out of her chair and was grabbing her purse before John and Elizabeth even reached the table.

TBC


	32. Chapter 32

**Authors Note: So this is the final chapter, thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed, you guys are all awesome. Also, how cool is it that this story broke 200 reviews, seriously, you guys are amazing. **

**Steph – **Thanks for the review, hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Cinderella2122 – **Thanks for the review, I hope the waiting was worth it. Don't be putting off your homework lol, it's very important. I'm glad you're enjoying the story though.

**Belanna30 – **A little more waiting on the Chaya front I'm afraid, 'wait' seems to have become a favourite word of mine lol. Some more John and Elizabeth in this chapter as well as Jack and Sam, thanks for the review.

**Bunnylass – **I couldn't resist the part about Rodney's name, it just seemed to slide itself into the story so well lol. It's kinda sad to this end but the next instalment shouldn't be too far away, I'm really glad you're enjoying the series. Your reviews have been really great, they never fail to make me smile and inspire me so thank you very much.

**Jammeke – **Sorry about getting them together when you went away lol, I promise it wasn't planned. Thanks or you review and I hope you enjoy the final chapter.

**Dr Rosemary Weir – **I know you were waiting for John and Elizabeth to get it together for a while, hope it was worth the wait, thanks for the review.

* * *

Chapter 32

They'd been to the restaurant several times with the others and Elizabeth was glad John had picked it for their date. They'd been sat near the window and ordered their food more or less straight away. Elizabeth was sat eating a breadstick while they waited for their food to arrive and John's eyes were following the large fish around the nearby fish tank.

"It's not going to jump out of the tank and eat you," Elizabeth commented.

"I wouldn't put it passed it, have you seen the teeth on that thing. Why would they add that to the tank?" he questioned.

"They didn't just add it, it replaced all the other fish," she told him noticing it was now the only fish in the tank.

"I'll bet it ate all the other fish," he replied and Elizabeth rolled her eyes at him and tried not to smile. She failed miserably and he raised an eyebrow at her. "It's not funny; do you see the other fish anywhere?"

"I'm sure they didn't let the big fish eat them," she assured him but he still didn't look entirely convinced.

"So..." he began taking his eyes of the tank and moving them onto her. "I guess we have stuff to talk about."

And that didn't make her nervous at all. "Yeah."

"Well, Teyla might have gone slightly overboard at some point during her rant, I think even she would agree on that," John told her in amusement. "I can say with absolute honesty that I haven't been out picking wedding rings in the last year."

Elizabeth laughed, she'd obviously missed that part of the rant when she'd been trying to get away. "She was a little wound up."

"No kidding," John replied. "But the majority of what she said was true, for me anyway. I do see you as more than a friend but I didn't want to ruin our friendship, I had no idea if it went both ways or if it was just me."

"It does... go both ways," Elizabeth told him. They were saved from feeling any more awkward than they already did by their food arriving. Elizabeth smiled and thanked the waiter before she picked up her fork. They ate their food in silence and the awkward tension was enough to drive most people insane.

"This is ridiculous," John stated after the first five minutes. "We're acting like twelve year olds."

"Kind of," Elizabeth replied laughing as John shook his head.

"What are you planning to do with your summer?" he asked her conversationally and Elizabeth smiled.

"Other than avoiding Carly, I'll probably just read some books and study. I'm sure I'll have some Governor's events to take part in, my father usually travels to Alteran city during the summer and Carly and I have to go with him," Elizabeth explained and John nodded. She supposed he knew exactly what it was like being the child of a Governor, he was one after all. She was sure he'd had to play the dutiful son more often than he would have liked, most Governors children did. "What about you?"

"Governing family stuff, chilling out, catch up with some old friends. I intend for this summer to be as unproductive as possible," he told her and Elizabeth smiled, that sounded about right.

* * *

Professor Penrose had set them a short essay to do; it had taken only fifteen minutes for the majority of the class to be finished with it. After that he had told them to practice whatever spells they wanted to that they had learned that year. Laura and Marcus had opted to practice moving objects and were currently fighting with their wooden blocks. Janet winced as the two blocks hit each other too hard and she knew without looking up that at least one of the blocks had splintered, probably both.

"I think we need new blocks," Laura stated as she and Marcus picked up their blocks. Marcus nodded and the two of them subtly dropped the chunks of wood into the trash can as they passed it and returned with two new ones.

"You'd think you'd learn," Janet said as they went back to their fight. She was practicing the spell to conjure light, trying to make it brighter but being so inexperienced he was sucking all the energy out of her. She was glad that next year they'd be learning how to limit the amount of energy you lost in a spell.

"It's not as much fun just watching them float," Marcus told her and Janet returned her attention to her spell. The sound of wood hitting wood repeatedly informing her that the fight was still continuing.

"Miss Cadman, Mr Lorne, I did not allow you this time so you could fight each other with chunks of wood, move onto another spell please," Professor Penrose instructed them. Laura sighed and decided to aim the wood at Marcus before dropping it. Marcus saw it coming and moved out of the way leaving the wood to go flying across the room where it hit another student in the back of the head.

"Hey," the kid shouted turning around and rubbing his head.

Penrose sighed. "Miss Cadman, please refrain from attacking other students. Both of you sit down and copy out the text from page 54 of your text books."

"What?" Marcus exclaimed. "I didn't even do anything."

The look from Penrose silenced any further protest from Marcus and he and Laura were forced to sit and copy text while the rest of the class continued to practice spells. Janet resisted the urge to tell them it was their own faults when they both started sulking. They started bickering over whose fault it was and Janet decided to go and sit elsewhere. She walked across the room and sat next to Kira Tolas. The girl was always quiet, always working hard and she smiled sympathetically as Janet sat next to her.

"Peace and quiet?" Kira questioned.

"It's in short supply these days," Janet stated with a sigh.

* * *

It was driving Sam slightly crazy, in some ways nothing had changed between her and Jack and in other ways it had. He seemed to spend more time around her, sat next to her more at lunch but that was it. They'd gone to the end of year party together and that seemed to be the end of it and it was frustrating her to no end. She was so annoyed by it now that she'd decided she was going to leave her pride in her room and go talk to Jack. They only had a couple of days left of school now and then they'd be going home, she didn't want this annoying her all summer.

She found him just as he was going into the cafeteria so she shouted for him and he stopped to wait for her. She ran the short distance between then wanting to make sure he didn't go inside before she could talk to him. This was a conversation to be had in private, especially if she ended up making a fool of herself.

"We need to talk," she told him and from the look on his face he knew exactly what it was about. He nodded and walked away from the cafeteria, allowing her to fall in step beside him. "What are we?" she questioned bluntly but she was too fed up to dance around the subject and if she was indeed going to make a fool of herself she'd rather get it over with.

"Straight to the point," Jack commented quietly before he stopped walking and turned to her. "I don't know."

"You asked me to the dance and that was it, did you just ask me so you'd have someone to go with?" she questioned and Jack shook his head.

"No, of course not, I asked you because I wanted to go with you," Jack told her and she waited for him to continue. She'd started this; the ball was in his court now. "I like you Sam but I wasn't sure whether you wanted it to be a one time thing."

"Well... I don't," she replied.

"Okay... neither do I," he stated. "So... we're...dating?"

"If you want to," she said awkwardly.

"Which I do," he replied.

"Then I guess we're dating" she finished and Jack nodded. She laughed at how awkward and uncomfortable the conversation had gotten, no body would have guessed they were mature adults. "Let's go get something to eat," Sam suggested.

"Good idea."

* * *

John debated for five seconds whether or not he wanted to take his jacket with him. It had been a hot day and though the temperature would probably drop once it got dark he didn't expect that it would actually be cold. He decided to leave it and grabbed his wallet instead stuffing it into the pocket of his jeans before leaving his room. Jack was just on his way down the corridor and John waited for him to reach him. There was something almost sad about going for dinner, everyone would be going home for the holidays tomorrow and they all wanted once last dinner together before they did.

"Hey, you ready?" Jack questioned as he reached him.

"No, I left my room for the fun of it," John replied and Jack narrowed his eyes at him in a half serious glare. The two men headed to the stairs and John was glad he didn't have one of the rooms higher up the tower, he wasn't sure he could be bothered with walking up and down that many stairs everyday.

"So..." John began conversationally as he and Jack made their way down the few flights of stairs separating them from the ground. "What's going on with you and Sam?"

Jack turned another glare on him. "What's going on with you and Elizabeth?"

"Touché," John replied and they made the rest of the journey to the cafeteria in silence. He still wasn't entirely sure what his and Elizabeth's relationship was and it annoyed him to no end that they didn't have time to figure it out. All he knew was that he was going to miss her like crazy over the summer.

Most f the guys were already there waiting except for Rodney and Radek who usually arrived right before the girl's. John took a seat at the table while Jack went to join in the game of football that had started with an empty bottle in place of a football. There were a lot of other students about, most of them probably there for the same reason, meeting up with friends to go out for dinner. Town was going to busy that night which was why Teyla and Ronon had gone to the restaurant yesterday to make reservations.

Rodney and Radek showed up a few minutes later arguing about something and surprisingly, Teyla and Elizabeth were the first of the girl's to arrive. Elizabeth sat down next to John with a sigh and a glare aimed at Teyla.

"I swear, next year I'm transferring to another room," Elizabeth stated and John raised an eyebrow at her. "Do these boots look comfortable to you?" she questioned and though he could appreciate how sexy they looked on her he could honestly say no, they didn't look comfortable. He had never understood how women could walk in those ridiculously big heals with the pointed fronts that had to squash all their toes together.

"Then why are you wearing them?" he questioned.

"She made me," Elizabeth replied and John resisted the urge to raise his eyebrow at her again.

"She made you?" he asked incredulously. He had a hard time believing that anyone could make her do anything, Teyla could be pretty persuasive and she had a knack for convincing people to do things but he didn't think Elizabeth would be forced to do anything she really didn't want to.

"Yes, made me. All I got for the half an hour it took me to get ready was 'you have to wear these boots' and 'they'll look great on you' and 'I can't believe you won't wear them, don't you trust me' she was going to drive me crazy," Elizabeth explained and John nodded his head. Teyla could be pretty stubborn once she set her mind to something and poor Elizabeth just liked to keep the peace.

"Just go and change them, by the time you get back it'll be too late for Teyla to do anything about it," John told her and Elizabeth looked thoughtful for a minute before glancing at Teyla and making a run for it, as much as a person could run in those boots anyway. Janet and Laura arrived right after that, Kate not far behind them which meant that as usual they were waiting on Vala and Sam.

"Where's Elizabeth?" Teyla asked a few minutes later, the question directed at John.

"She went to change," he told her honestly and Teyla looked like she was considering going after her to stop her but then the woman in question came back wearing another pair of boots but seeming far more comfortable in the smaller heals and less pointy toes.

"I can't believe you wouldn't wear those boots," Teyla stated and Elizabeth shrugged.

"They were uncomfortable," she told her room mate as the last two members of the group arrived. They headed into town pretty quickly they were already cutting it pretty close and the last thing they needed was to lose their reservation. Feeling a little brave John took hold of Elizabeth's hand as they headed through the forest and was pleased when she smiled and walked closer to him.

The restaurant was pretty crowded when they arrived which made John twice as glad they'd made reservations. They were seated straight away and made quick work of their orders since they'd eaten there before.

"I can't believe it's the end of the year, it's gone so fast," Kate stated.

"Well being so busy tends to make time pass quicker," Laura replied with a shrug.

"Time doesn't actually pass quicker," Rodney pointed out and John rolled his eyes, if anyone else had said it he'd probably have kept that comment to himself.

"Alright you two, play nice tonight, this is our last dinner together for the next seven weeks," Carson told them and both of them seemed to back down in favour of having a good night. Several conversations started up around the group then, their food arrived shortly after and for once there were no arguments. Dinner was over all too soon and they decided it would be best to head straight back to school, some of them still had packing to do for tomorrow. When they got there the group split up to head to their dorms and John was surprised when Elizabeth turned to him and kissed him before she left.

"Night," she said and was gone before John could gather together enough of his senses to reply.

Jack laughed and clapped him on the back. "Come on, the tower is this way."

* * *

Sam had no idea why she felt so upset; it wasn't like they were never going to see each other again. She was only going home for the summer holidays, seven weeks, that was it and then she'd be back. So why the hell did she feel like crying?

At least she managed to look sane on the outside. She hugged Vala and watched as her friend hugged Cameron, then daring to hug Ronon and Teal'c before she ran off to her carriage and left. Teal'c did the weird sort of handshake whish was actually more of an arm grabbing with Ronon, said his goodbyes and hurried over to the bus to Chulak. Laura, Marcus and Kate had left earlier that morning, Laura complaining all the time about the bus to Cadera leaving so early.

Sam walked over to Jack, they were both leaving at the same time and she wished she'd had more time to figure out what they were. It would have to wait until after the holidays now and she was determined not to worry about it over the summer.

"Hey," he said as she stopped in front of him.

"I think you mean 'bye' actually," she replied and he smirked.

"I was getting to that part," he told her. "I'll see you after the summer, take you out to dinner."

"Sounds good," she said as she stepped forward and hugged him. He kissed her cheek as they parted and they were saved from any awkwardness by Janet coming over to hug Sam. Since Jack and Janet were close friends they were leaving together and Janet got the privilege of riding one of the governing family's carriages home. Jack had even convinced Cameron to go with them since he was the only other member of their group heading to Earleth. Cameron had looked distinctly uncomfortable handing his suitcase over to the coachman.

Cameron came over and offered her a quick hug before turning to Jack. "Are you sure you don't mind, I can get the bus later."

"Cam, get in the damn carriage," Jack replied slightly exasperated. Janet laughed and took Cameron over to the carriage making him get in first. Jack gave Sam a smile and then followed them, that just left her and Daniel that were leaving that morning and of course Daniel was leaving with her.

"Ready to go?" Daniel asked and Sam nodded, she glanced around, as she'd expected Mark wasn't there, he'd insisted he'd make his own way home with some friends from the city. She and Daniel made a quick round of goodbyes which didn't take long considering half the group had already left then they were on their way home.

"I can't believe that's our first year finished," Sam stated as she looked back from the carriage.

"Went a little too quick didn't it," Daniel replied and Sam nodded.

* * *

Elizabeth waved to Radek, Carson and Rodney as the bus for Tralos left, she half wished she was going with them. The bus was heading to her home county but of course her father wouldn't be happy if Elizabeth took the bus home, especially when he'd sent a carriage for her. Ronon's bus was leaving next and Teyla was hugging him, refusing to let go and Ronon didn't seem all that eager to pry her off yet. Still, the bus wasn't going to wait for him so Elizabeth decided to intervene.

"Teyla, his bus is about to go," she stated and Teyla hummed her acknowledgement but made no move to let go of him. Ronon did it for her, stepping back to kiss her and then heading for the bus leaving a sulking Teyla behind.

"Should I miss him so much when we've known each other for less than a year?" she questioned as they walked toward the bus so Teyla could wave him off. John was nearby handing his bags and suitcase over to his coachman.

"Well, considering you've hardly been apart in that year I think you're allowed to miss him," Elizabeth informed her and Teyla nodded as she spotted Ronon taking his seat on the bus. She waved to him and he gave her a small wave back. Elizabeth smiled to herself, Ronon was a tough man to get to know, this softer side of him that he seemed to show only when Teyla was around was something she was still getting used to.

The bus left a moment later and after a final wave Ronon was gone and if possible Teyla looked even more miserable. They were among the last to leave the school, there were two busses left and a couple of carriages besides their own, even many of the teachers had left by early afternoon.

"Well, I guess this is it, we're the last," Teyla said and Elizabeth rolled her eyes as Teyla hugged her. John came walking over and got the same enthusiastic hug.

"Teyla, we'll see you in seven weeks," Elizabeth told her.

"And we'll write," John added.

"I know but it's going to be almost two months, I'm going to miss you," Teyla told them hugging them both again. "I'm going to go get on my carriage before I start crying," she finished and then did just that, Elizabeth waited until her room mate was gone before she turned to John.

"Are you going to manage without me for seven weeks?" John questioned and Elizabeth laughed.

"It'll be tough but I think I'll be okay," she joked and then surprised herself when she hugged him. He hugged her back and for a second she understood why Teyla had refused to let go of Ronon, seven weeks actually was a long time. "So, I'll see you after the summer."

John kissed her pulling her close and she figured she was going to have to be the one to leave because John clearly wasn't planning on doing it. She kissed him back for a moment and then stepped back.

"Bye," she said, her voice just above a whisper, kissing him quickly and then heading for her carriage. The coachman didn't look too pleased at being made to wait so long but she was used to the looks of annoyance she got from her father's employees, they were all very stern, professional people. John was heading to his coach which was just behind hers and she gave him one last wave before her coach pulled away from the school.

It would take a few days to get back to Tralos, she had her book with her though and reservations had already been made at the two inns she would be staying at. She wasn't really looking forward to getting home; the summer holidays weren't going to be that much fun, just seven weeks of avoiding Carly and attending various governors' events. At least it would only be seven weeks and then she'd be heading back to school, maybe next year would be a little less exciting that this one had been.

END

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**Authors Note.**

**So, there we go, it's taken a while but Personal Battles is finally finished. Once again I want to thank everyone who stuck with me through this and especially those who left me all those wonderful reviews. I know this story stretched some of your patience to the limits but I hope it was worth it.**

**In the next instalment, Carly starts school, Kolya is up to no good and Chaya finds out about John and Elizabeth. It shouldn't be too long before it's posted but I do have some other things to do and finish before I start working on it.**

**Thanks again, love you all. **


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